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After floods submerged parts of the country during recent storms and the enhanced southwest monsoon, the Department of Public Works and Highways is strengthening its Oplan Kontra Baha initiatives in the country, on orders from President Marcos.

DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said they are laying down long-term programs to reduce flooding not only in Metro Manila but in other parts of the country, such as Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Tarlac and Naga City, Camarines Sur as well as parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Among these initiatives are cleaning and dredging of waterways in flood-prone and low-lying areas and construction and maintenance of pumping stations.

Meanwhile, repairs of the drainage system along Doña Remedios Trinidad Road in Baliwag, Bulacan are in full swing.

Dizon said the rehabilitation works along the road are meant to reduce flooding during heavy rains, which have affected motorists, commuters and residents of Bulacan.

The Department of Agriculture is studying China’s smart farming technologies as the Philippines looks for ways to modernize production, improve farm productivity and leapfrog technological gaps.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. recently led a Philippine delegation to Zhejiang Huihong Fruit and Vegetable Farm in Zhejiang province, where officials examined digital systems used to monitor crops and manage farm operations.

‘We have to modernize agriculture, and we have to find the right technology that will allow us to leapfrog,’ Tiu Laurel said, underscoring the need to identify technologies that can be adapted to Philippine conditions.

He also said the Philippines should not shy away from adopting approaches that have already worked elsewhere.

‘There’s nothing wrong with copying the success of others if it will help others,’ Tiu Laurel said.

Zheng Yunyu, founder of Zhejiang Huihong Biotechnology Co. Ltd., briefed the delegation on the farm’s smart agriculture data platform, which integrates environmental monitoring, water and fertilizer management and real-time production data.

The Philippine officials toured the farm’s greenhouses and examined fruit and vegetable cultivation practices, including green protection and precision management techniques. They also sampled grapes, plums and jujubes produced at the farm.

A meeting afterward covered the farm’s industrial operations, quality control and ecological planting models, as well as potential cooperation in agricultural technology and fruit and vegetable production.

Tiu Laurel said there was broad room for Philippine-China cooperation and expressed interest in translating the exchange into practical collaboration.

For the DA, the technology on display offers a possible template for improving how Philippine farms manage water, fertilizer, growing conditions and production data.

The delegation’s visit also comes as the Philippines faces pressure to raise agricultural productivity while dealing with climate risks, resource constraints and uneven access to modern farm technology.

The DA said cooperation could focus on technology transfer and industry partnerships in precision agriculture, crop protection and ecological farming.

The bigger task will be determining which technologies can work economically and effectively in Philippine farms, where conditions vary sharply in scale, infrastructure, financing and digital access.

A total of 1,757 qualified solo parents in Mandaue City are expected to receive P12,000 each in annual financial assistance from the city government.

The second tranche of the assistance may be released as early as next week, according to the City Social Welfare Services Office (CSWSO).

The assistance was among the matters discussed during a meeting between Mayor Thadeo ‘Jonkie’ Ouano, CSWSO head Dr. Michael Pielago, and Federation of Solo Parents Mandaue City Chapter focal person Pureza Tabuac on Thursday, September 10.

Based on the city’s current list, the qualified beneficiaries would receive a combined P21.084 million in annual assistance.

The program is part of the city government’s efforts to expand social services and benefits for solo parents in Mandaue.

Aside from the financial assistance, Tabuac also raised concerns over the need for stricter implementation of the city’s anti-mendicancy program.

Tabuac noted that mendicants have again become more visible in different parts of the city despite existing government interventions and programs intended to address the issue.

The CSWSO official said the recurring presence of mendicants remains a concern as individuals continue to return to the city even after government interventions.

Ouano said he would discuss the implementation of the anti-mendicancy program with the City Council to identify measures that could make its enforcement stricter and more effective.

City Administrator Atty. Gonzalo ‘Sally’ Malig-on Jr. and Executive Secretary Atty. Riczen Gingoyon also joined the meeting.

The CSWSO continues to oversee social welfare programs and services for vulnerable sectors in the city, including solo parents.

John Eriq Bonifacio won the Philippines’ first Mister Cosmopolitan title on Saturday, September 12, in Vietnam.

Bonifacio beat 19 other contestants at the grand finals held in Nha Trang in Vietnam. He was also named Best in Physique and Best Catwalk.

‘We did it, guys. Mabuhay, Philippines. Para sa inyo ito (This is all for you),’ Bonifacio said in a video.

The Kapampangan heartthrob was asked during the question and answer: ‘As a gentleman, what does having a noble heart mean to you, and how do you believe a man can demonstrate it through his action toward others?’

The Filipino answered: ‘For me, [a] gentleman with a noble heart is not defined by how he [dresses] or looks, but rather how he [treats] people with respect. This is something that I learned from my father who just passed away. It taught me that regardless of who they are, rich, poor, or what gender they choose, respect must always come first.’

Bonifacio succeeds Taiwanese Shawn Lin, who won the title in last year’s competition in Thailand.

Champions will be crowned on September 20 as the inaugural 5150 Triathlon Islands of the Philippines Series culminates on Samal Island, where athletes will face the final test of a four-leg endurance challenge spanning some of the country’s most scenic island destinations.

The Damosa Land 5150 Triathlon finale will follow the familiar 5150 format – a 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bike and 10-kilometer run – but the Samal race carries significance beyond being the final stop on the calendar. It caps a series built to test athletes across varied island courses while highlighting the growing appeal of triathlon in the Philippines.

The series opened in Guimaras in March, moved to Camiguin in May and continued in Bohol before heading to Samal for the fourth and final leg. While the race format remains consistent, each destination presents athletes with a distinct mix of terrain, weather, roads and race-day conditions.

That variety is at the heart of the challenge, requiring athletes to adapt from one island course to the next while maintaining the endurance, consistency and race-day execution needed to contend for the series crown.

Samal offers a particularly fitting stage for the finale. Known for its coastal scenery and established tourism infrastructure, the island will once again host the 5150 after last year’s staging produced overall victories for Eryk Omandam and Natasha Doromal-Lim.

The return of the event, including Omandam and Doromal-Lim, gives athletes another opportunity to race on Samal while strengthening the island’s emerging identity as an endurance-sports destination.

Organized by Sunrise Events Inc., the series has also provided a platform for Filipino triathletes to compete in different parts of the country while attracting athletes from outside their home regions. For competitors, that creates a racing calendar that combines competition with travel – and allows each event to become a new test of preparation and adaptability.

More importantly, the four-leg format reflects the growing depth of the Philippine triathlon scene. Rather than a single standalone race, the Islands of the Philippines Series connects multiple destinations through one sporting concept, giving athletes a reason to follow the circuit from one island to another.

The sport itself also provides an ideal vehicle for that approach. Triathlon courses take competitors outside traditional sporting venues and directly into the environments where races are held. Athletes swim along coastlines, cycle through roads and communities, and finish their races against the backdrop of each destination.

That connection between competition and location is one of the reasons triathlon continues to attract interest as part of the country’s sports-tourism strategy.

Spearheaded by the Philippine Sports Commission and supported by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, the series forms part of the National Sports Tourism Inter-Agency Council’s effort to position the Philippines as a venue for international sporting events.

But for the athletes lining up in Samal, the immediate focus will be competition.

The finale gives the field one last opportunity to test months of training against a demanding swim-bike-run course, with every transition, tactical decision and kilometer potentially affecting the final standings.

After four races across four islands, the 5150 Triathlon Islands of the Philippines Series will come down to one final course, one final test and the athletes who can put together their best performance when the championship is on the line.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has opposed the defense’s request to reframe the crimes against humanity charges against former president Rodrigo Duterte, saying the issues it raised had already been settled during the confirmation proceedings.

In a 10-page response, ICC acting prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang urged Trial Chamber III to dismiss the motion filed by Duterte’s defense questioning the form of the charges.

Defense lawyer Peter Haynes, in a motion dated Aug. 31, argued that the original document containing the charges, or DCC, ‘is not fit for purpose and should be struck out.’

Haynes said the charges were improperly framed by grouping the alleged crimes under three topical headings, supposedly violating Duterte’s right to be informed in detail of the nature, cause and content of the charges against him.

The defense asked Trial Chamber III to direct the ICC prosecutor to file an updated DCC before the Pre-Trial Chamber that confirmed the charges against Duterte.

Niang, however, said the defense failed to distinguish between the legal adequacy of the charges and the accused’s right to notice.

He also said many of the defense’s arguments had already been addressed during the confirmation proceedings.

‘Questions as to the form of charges are a matter for confirmation proceedings, not trial. The defense fully participated in the substantive proceedings to confirm the charges, up to and including seeking leave (unsuccessfully) to appeal the Pre-Trial Chamber’s confirmation decision on the issue of the form of the charges,’ Niang wrote.

Duterte is facing crimes against humanity charges involving three sets of alleged incidents: murders in Davao from 2013 to 2016, murders of high-value targets from 2016 to 2017 and murders and attempted murders linked to barangay operations from 2016 to 2018.

Niang rejected the defense’s criticisms of how the charges were structured, saying the three counts ‘each have a clear temporal, geographical and material scope.’

On the issue of notice, Niang maintained that the prosecution had provided the defense with sufficient information about the incidents and victims that would be covered during the trial.

‘The prosecution has duly provided sufficient notice of all the relevant incidents and victims, both through the information provided in the course of confirmation proceedings but also through auxiliary pre-trial documents such as the trial brief,’ he added.

Duterte’s trial is expected to begin on Nov. 30.

‘Encantadia’ star Glaiza de Castro is glad that she has weathered the delicate first trimester of her first-time pregnancy.

The actress suprised the public on Saturday night with a carousel of photos on Instagram that shows her huge baby bump.

‘GRABE PALA,’ the actress wrote in all caps with a sweaty smile face icon in her caption.

‘It’s also been so nice and comforting talking to other women about this journey as a first-time mom. I need all the help I can get. Basta masasabi ko lang, ibang klase talaga ang mga nanay,’ she added.

Shot by Nice Print Photo, Glaiza posed for the camera in black-and-white and colored shots all showing her baby bump.

Glaiza wed her Irish boyfriend David Rainey in October 2021 in Northern Ireland. They tied the knot again in a Filipiniana-themed wedding in Zambales in 2023.

There is still a high admission of leptospirosis cases at the San Lazaro Hospital (SLH), with the majority of cases already in the severe stage.

In a radio interview yesterday, SLH’s Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Department head Dr. Rontgene Solante said their current leptospirosis patient admissions stand at 10 to 15 a day.

He noted that last week, leptospirosis admissions at SLH was 20 to 30 a day.

‘We thought at this point our admission rate is already on a decline. But it is not really decreasing,’ he said.

Solante explained that if a person waded in floodwater, the earliest appearance of leptospirosis symptoms could be on the third to fifth day. ‘But it can be as long as two weeks,’ he said.

Solante reminded the public that doxycycline prophylaxis should never be taken without a doctor’s prescription, particularly for pregnant women and children below eight years old.

‘There are alternative medications, but they need to consult a doctor first,’ he said.

To prevent leptospirosis, the SLH reminded the public to avoid wading in floodwaters, wash body parts exposed to floods with soap and clean water, keep surroundings clean and free from rodents, drink clean water, eat well-cooked food and consult a doctor immediately if experiencing symptoms.

Latest data from the Department of Health showed that 6,253 leptospirosis cases have been recorded in the country.

It warned that infections may surge as another wave of cases could be experienced in two weeks following the flooding brought by heavy rains on Aug. 29 to 30.