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They may have fallen short of their target but the promising young booters of the Lapu-Lapu City Heroes FC are still proud and happy of their first runner-up trophy in the 6 Under category of the 4th City of Naga Football Festival recently.

The Heroes scored a thrilling 2-1 win over Looc FC in between two draws with the host City of Naga. But they suffered a heart-breaking loss to Looc FC at the end of their campaign in the double round robin event to settle for the silver medal.

It s the third podium finish for the Heroes in a month after the Soccer Moms emerged as champions and their U10 players placed second in the VP Visayas Eagles Challenge Cup last August at the Dynamic Herb-Borromeo Sports Complex.

Under the guidance of coach Josh Austin, the U6 Heroes are bannered by Elijah Radleigh Aparece, Jasper Daniel Wu, Craig Adam Menguito, Trent Arthur Gala, Brandon Xander Menguito, Khalesse Malingin, Thirdy Dizon, Alexa Mae Tumulak, Eyana Rhaine Brillo, and David Lacar.

On the other hand, their U12 team coached by Lopito Tumulak Jr. and Jhon Dave Regner made it to the quarterfinal round.

The Heroes edged Minglanilla and STC with the same 1-0 scoreline and fought to a draw with the City of Danao and San Carlos School of Cebu.

However, their lone setback in the group stage against the host Nagahanons shut down their Final Four bid.

The Mercato de Mactan-backed U12 squad is composed of Mark Daniel Bacla-an, Devin Jasper Gildo, Mcjohnston Singh, Kyle Nakagawa, Asriel Josh Heredia, Zacc Roshan Lomadilla, Rua Hoshino, Toa Hoshino, Prince Emmanuel James Salazar, Spencer Sven Lomadilla, Ysabelle Sulib, Wil Jacob Rom, and Nicolo Eidann Cuizon.

Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle sees the problem of corruption in the Philippines as part of a larger global trend of poor governance, warning that Filipinos risk insulting themselves and the country’s overseas workers by repeating the phrase ‘only in the Philippines’ when scandals erupt.

Delivering the keynote address at the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) national convention on Wednesday, October 1, the former Manila archbishop spoke bluntly about how corruption is often framed as if it is a problem unique to the Philippines.

‘I travel a lot. I visit refugee camps, forested areas, denuded places, polluted waterways. And I tell you, it is not only in the Philippines where we find this horrendous situation,” Tagle said.

“So please stop saying, only in the Philippines … I feel insulted,’ he added.

In saying this, Tagle drew from his experience as pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, particularly the sector for evangelization of young Churches, where he oversees mission territories across Asia, Africa, Oceania and parts of Latin America.

He added: “I think of our overseas Filipino workers. When we only show, what they say, are the ‘ugliness’ of the country, what will their employers think?… But not all Filipinos are like that,” Tagle said before an audience of some 3,500 Catholic educators and students.

Tagle also suggested Filipinos examine international connections to problems within the country, noting that corruption operates on a global scale.

‘So maybe you could also look at what the connection of other countries and other businesses might be to what is happening in the Philippines,’ Tagle said in mixed English and Filipino. ‘Because fraud and corruption are global, maybe there are other hands meddling here with us.’

‘Maybe the ones we are shouting at are small fry,’ he said.

This year’s gathering of CEAP members – the country’s biggest network of Catholic schools – comes as parallel investigations are held in the Senate and in the Independent Commission on Infrastructure on irregularities in public works projects. In one of the Senate hearings, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon raised the possibility that “trillions” of public funds may have already been misused, stolen or lost due to corruption in flood control projects alone.

Revelations of anomalies have pushed Catholic schools, church leaders, civil society groups, and progressive organizations to take to the streets to demand accountability, with the last massive protest held on September 21, though local rallies were also held in the days before that.

While CEAP’s national convention this year has an official theme related to synodality – a word the Catholic Church uses to refer to a process of collective discernment and dialogue – CEAP officials in their speeches have also zeroed in on the current corruption scandal, especially how Catholic school educators can prevent their graduates from becoming part of the problem.

Given the timing of their gathering, CEAP president Fr. Karel San Juan, SJ, yesterday said their convention this year is meant to send a “strong message” to Catholic school graduates that the values they learned in classrooms must be lived out in public life.

Bishop Charlie Inzon of Jolo, who chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ education commission, said in a speech on Wednesday that Catholic schools must not stop at protest actions when scandals break, but also invest in the long-term work of forming honest and conscientious Catholic school alumni.

Senate finance chair Sherwin Gatchalian flagged the involvement of flood control contractors Curlee and Sarah Discaya in the anomalous construction of hospital facilities during the Department of Health (DOH)’s budget deliberation yesterday.

Gatchalian lamented the wasted public funds in uncompleted or idle hospital facilities, citing a 2024 Commission on Audit (COA) report about 123 DOH contracts worth P11.5 billion not completed on time due to poor coordination, approval delays and changes in site locations, among others.

He said the average P100-million budget for the graft-tainted flood control projects could have been used for the construction of a new building for the children’s hospital.

‘This is P11.5 billion that we cannot use and got stuck, because of poor planning, lack of coordination and poor execution. We really need to spend our budget wisely,’ Gatchalian said.

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa mentioned the DOH’s ‘flood control version’ of the scandal, with 400 of their 600 health centers under its health facilities enhancement program left idle because of lack of health care personnel and delayed construction due to contractors’ lapses.

COA supervising auditor for DOH Ameer Gamama said Discaya’s firm St. Gerrard Construction was involved in a P133-million Zamboanga sanitarium project that was left idle despite being 98 percent complete and a P22.45-million DOH satellite project in Zamboanga del Norte that was completed but instead used as a classroom by the Mindanao State University.

Herbosa also lamented lawmakers’ practice of ‘budget insertions’ in the national outlay for DOH projects not part of its health facility development plan, resulting in poor planning and faulty or delayed construction.

Farm-to-market roads

The Department of Agriculture (DA) yesterday said its audit of farm-to-market roads has uncovered P115 million in ‘ghost’ projects from P75 million initially reported, adding to the roster of questionable government infrastructure flagged so far.

‘It’s not that big but it’s still alarming because why are there ghost projects,’ Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. told reporters on the sidelines of the opening day of the 47th meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay City.

He said his agency is coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and that he plans to personally visit the sites.

The agriculture official said the previous day that the contractors behind the P115 million in ‘ghost’ projects were not among the 15 firms earlier identified by President Marcos.

The DA launched the audit earlier this year after the Senate began looking into alleged irregularities in flood control projects, prompting the agency to scrutinize its own road programs.

The country still lacks about 62,000 kilometers of farm-to-market roads, according to the agriculture official, stressing the need to safeguard funds so these can be used for actual construction and improvements rather than lost to anomalies.

Investigate EDCA

Apart from anomalies in flood control projects, militant fishers’ group Pambansang Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the government should also investigate DPWH’s budget allocation for a military site covered by the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

Pamalakaya chairman Fernando Hicap said the DPWH’s Tatag ng Imprastraktura Para sa Kapayapaan at Seguridad appropriated P3 billion for various support of national security, including the expansion of an airstrip in the island town of Balabac in Palawan.

For Hicap, it is unacceptable that public funds are being used for an EDCA site that he said has no benefit for Filipinos and also puts the country’s security at risk.

Aside from the expansion of the Balabac airstrip, Hicap said the DPWH also provided funds to build a hangar at the Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu and the construction of hangars and various military infrastructure at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.

Instead of military bases, Hicap said government funds should be used to build infrastructure that will directly benefit people.

Removal of ethics

The Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines (CEAP) warned that corruption in the government would worsen amid the Department of Education (DepEd)’s proposal to remove the Ethics subject from the General Education (GE) curriculum of higher education institutions as the country is rocked by flood control scandal.

CEAP executive director Narcy Ador Dionisio said that ethics form the conscience of students.

‘Ethics is not optional. It is essential to look at what’s happening to our country today,’ Dionisio said.

‘Ethics forms the conscience of our students and without it, we risk producing graduates who may be competent but lack integrity. Academic knowledge without ethical grounding will never serve the common good,’ he added.

‘We’re talking about good people initially when they graduate from a Catholic school or other schools and eventually, they turn into thieves and this is the same reason why CEAP is firmly opposing the removal of Ethics in the general education curriculum,’ he noted. -Alden Monzon, Emmanuel Tupas, Bella Cariaso

Two executives have left the boardroom of courier giant LBC Express Holdings Inc. in another leadership shakeup for the company that is trying to sustain its return to profit.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, LBC said directors Miguel Camahort and Jason Rosenblatt have resigned effective yesterday.

Camahort served as president and CEO of LBC, until the courier announced in August that it was promoting chief finance officer Enrique Rey Jr. as its new head.

LBC appointed a new president and CEO to make way for Camahort’s retirement. Camahort left LBC at a time when it was just returning to profit on the success of its cost-cutting interventions.

Meanwhile, Rosenblatt is leaving his directorship in LBC to focus on other assignments abroad. LBC said it may be difficult for Rosenblatt to balance responsibilities if he stays in the company.

Currently, Rosenblatt serves as a partner and head of Southeast Asia private equity head for Ares Private Equity Group, which he joined in 2023 and is based in Los Angeles, California.

LBC is facing renewed optimism that it can stay in profit, as it is now led by Rey who has taken care of its financials since 2015 prior to his promotion.

Rey has served the LBC Group for close to two decades now, having been appointed as director of LBC Mundial Inc. from 2005 to 2008 and of LBC Systems Inc. from 2008 to 2010.

LBC posted a profit of P194.79 million in the first half, reversing its net loss of P251.66 million a year ago. Although LBC sustained a five-percent revenue decline to P6.98 billion, it managed to mitigate impact by slashing costs by four percent to P5.34 billion.

The company is undertaking cost-cutting efforts to nurse its finances back to health. This led the courier to reduce branches and personnel across the Philippines.

LBC projects revenue to pick up in the second semester, particularly during the holiday season, when remittance and shipping activities traditionally reach their highest.

Recently, LBC has received a show cause letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission to explain the delay in its submission of its sustainability report for 2022, which the courier said it is now addressing.

The Visayas grid was placed under yellow alert for eight hours yesterday after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Cebu and triggered an unplanned shutdown of several power plants.

The alert notice, which was issued when power reserves are low, was raised from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

The NGCP said that power grids in Luzon and Mindanao remained normal.

In the Visayas, the earthquake knocked down 11 plants, adding to the strain caused by 16 other power facilities that have been out of service long before the incident occurred, along with three others that are operating at a reduced capacity.

As a result, 640.6 megawatts of capacity were unavailable to the Visayas grid as of 3 p.m. yesterday, the NGCP said.

Over 800,000 consumer connections across the region experienced blackouts following the earthquake’s impact on 24 power cooperatives, the National Electrification Administration said.

The Department of Energy, meanwhile, has mobilized the entire sector to ensure the immediate restoration of power across affected areas, prioritizing hospitals, water stations and other lifeline facilities.

Anti-narcotics agents have confiscated 1.56 kilos of shabu worth P10.64 million in three cities in Metro Manila.

In Quezon City, 500 grams of shabu valued at P3.4 million were seized by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Barangay E. Rodriguez on Tuesday.

The contraband was recovered from a couple, the PDEA said.

Two more suspects were arrested by PDEA operatives in Sampaloc, Manila during a sting that yielded shabu with a street value of P3.4 million.

In Taguig, police seized P3.84 million worth of drugs from a 26-year-old construction worker in Barangay Pembo yesterday.

The University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu Fighting Maroons barged into the win column with a 73-69 upset of the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) Season 25 basketball tournament on Tuesday, September 30, at the Cebu Coliseum.

Andrew Padilla shined the brightest with 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Brandon Sainz and Wenraye Sarol combined for 22 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists to help the Fighting Maroons of coach Rommel Rasmo snap a three-game jinx.

UP Cebu squandered a nine-point lead late in the third quarter as the Webmasters staged a spirited endgame fightback to seize a 65-60 edge at the last three-minute mark of the contest.

But the Fighting Maroons countered with a decisive 10-1 blitz to regain the upper hand, 70-66, in the final 64 seconds.

The Webmasters threatened one last time at 69-71 on a 3-pointer by Ricofer Sordilla as Sarol scored on a crucial layup with only five ticks left in the game clock to seal the deal for the Fighting Maroons.

Ray Charles Libatog bagged 20 points, six rebounds and one assist while Sordilla had 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal but their efforts went to waste as the Webmasters faltered for the first time after a rousing 2-0 start.

In high school division, Mart Justine Padilla fired 23 points with five rebounds, one assist and a spectacular six steals as the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Blue Dragons nailed their first victory with a 67-56 scorching of the University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM) Baby Webmasters.

Kenneth Robert Fuller delivered a double-double of 16 and 12 rebounds with four assists and three steals for the Dragons, who sprinted to a 14-point advantage, 35-21, midway in the second quarter.

UCLM pulled within just two points, 49-51, in the final five minutes but the Dragons closed the match with a searing 16-7 run to secure a double-digit triumph.

Dan Mitchell Ferraren scattered 22 points, seven rebounds and two assists but to no avail as UCLM tasted its first defeat.

Civil Defense Deputy Administrator for Administration Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV confirmed in a press briefing yesterday that no formal evacuation camps have been activated in Bogo City following the powerful earthquake that struck northern Cebu late Tuesday night.

As of press time, more than 1,000 evacuees were sheltering in open spaces in Bogo City, though tents are being mobilized to provide temporary relief.

‘We technically don’t have evacuation camps right now. Our kababayans are just in open spaces. We’re assessing how many cannot return to their homes, and that will dictate how many camps we’ll need to manage in the next 24 hours,’ Alejandro said.

The official emphasized that the immediate priority remains search and rescue operations, especially in the mountainous areas of Bogo and neighboring San Remigio, where residents were reportedly trapped under debris.

‘We are still within the golden hour. Trained personnel are working tirelessly to retrieve survivors,’ he added.

Among the hardest-hit facilities was the San Remigio Sports Complex, which had been designated as an evacuation center. The structure sustained significant damage during the quake, and initial reports confirmed that some lives were lost in the collapse. Alejandro declined to comment on concerns about possible substandard infrastructure contributing to the casualties, deferring the matter to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

‘Next question. We’ll leave it to DPWH. They will assess,’ he said when pressed.

The DPWH has since issued multiple advisories and deployed augmentation teams to inspect the structural integrity of school buildings, hospitals, roads, and bridges in affected areas. Initial reports indicated partial collapses and single-lane passable roads, while air assets have also been deployed for aerial assessments and rescue operations in highland communities.

Defense Secretary Gilbert ‘Gibo’ Teodoro is also in Cebu to personally oversee the situation.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported that Bogo City District Hospital has been overwhelmed, prompting the deployment of additional medical personnel and transport teams for patient transfers. Power restoration efforts are underway, with generators temporarily supplying electricity, while the Department of Energy works to stabilize the grid.

Alejandro acknowledged the challenges posed by unstable communications and transport delays, noting that the city is around three hours away from Cebu City. The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has been tasked to establish emergency communication systems to provide a clearer operational picture.

Casualties, mostly due to falling debris, have been brought to hospitals. Close to 60 deaths were reported to the Office of Civil Defense earlier in the day, though figures remain fluid amid ongoing rescue efforts. The DOH and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) are managing the retrieval and identification of the deceased, as well as concerns about the proximity of bodies to the district hospital.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) continues to monitor aftershocks, some reaching magnitude 5. Residents remain hesitant to return to their homes, prompting further assessments of residential safety and the deployment of water filtration teams and food packs.

In anticipation of panic buying and hoarding, DILG Undersecretary Jovic Remulla placed the Philippine National Police (PNP) on red alert to maintain order and prevent looting.

Alejandro stressed that the full force of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has been deployed under the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

‘All hands are on deck. Cabinet members are coordinating to ensure resources reach those who need them,’ he said.

He also underscored the importance of public education and preparedness, especially in Metro Manila, where ‘the Big One’ is expected within the next 50 years.

‘We can never be 100 percent prepared, but we continue to practice and improve the plan. This event is one way to test our systems,’ Alejandro said.

International support from neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia is being considered, though assessments are still ongoing.

As the situation unfolds, authorities urge the public to remain vigilant, follow official advisories, and prioritize safety amid continuing aftershocks and rescue operations.

The first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will not push through as scheduled on Oct. 13 after the Supreme Court (SC) declared as unconstitutional laws redistricting the BARMM.

The SC said the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 77 and other pertinent laws concerning the redistricting of the BARMM are unconstitutional.

‘There can be no BARMM elections on Oct. 13 because of the lack of a valid district law,’ the SC said.

The BAA 77 or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Redistricting Act mandates the redistribution of seven parliamentary seats originally allocated to Sulu, while its predecessor law, the BAA 58, created parliamentary districts in the BARMM.

The high court granted a consolidated petition filed by Lanang Ali Jr. and Abdullah Macapaar against BARMM Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The SC said the BAA 77 is unconstitutional as it violated Section 5 of the Voter Registration Act, which prohibits any alteration of poll precincts once the election period has started.

The law was enacted by the BTA on Aug. 28. The election period started on Aug. 14.

The high tribunal said the BAA 77 also violated the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which mandates that each district should comprise adjacent and adjoining areas as far as practicable.

The SC said some local government units in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Cotabato City were assigned to districts that were not contiguous or adjacent to LGUs.

The voiding of the BAA 77 did not revive the BAA 58 or the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Districts Act as it was based on an outdated framework after Sulu was removed from the Bangsamoro region, the SC said.

‘A new valid districting law must be passed consistent with the Bangsamoro Organic Law, national laws and the Constitution,’ the SC said.

The high tribunal directed the BTA to distribute the parliamentary seats by Oct. 30. It said the parliamentary election must be conducted not later than March next year.

The SC said the decision as immediately executory and deemed served upon posting and receipt through electronic means.

P1 billion needed for deferred BARMM elections

Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body would need another P1 billion for the rescheduled BARMM elections.

In an interview with ‘Storycon’ on One News yesterday, Garcia said the Comelec has yet to receive a copy of the SC ruling declaring BAAs 77 and 58 as unconstitutional.

He said the Comelec would not appeal the decision and would comply with the ruling.

Like in any other postponement, Garcia said rescheduling the BARMM elections would require an additional budget.

For the BARMM elections, about P1 billion of the P2.7 billion allocated to the Comelec had already been spent.

‘We will have to reprint all the ballots. We will have to conduct again a voter education campaign,’ Garcia said, adding it is now up to the BTA to come up with an issuance on the distribution of district parliamentary seats.

‘If the parliament is not able to come up with a law as prescribed in the decision, then all preparations will have to be moved again,’ Garcia said. ‘Our compliance will be dependent on the compliance of other agencies or instrumentalities of the government.’

Alex Eala shoots for her second straight semifinal appearance against Swtizerland’s Viktorija Golubic in the battle between top-10 seeds in the WTA125 Suzhou Open Friday at Sungent International Tennis Center in China.

Eala, the No. 4 seed, and No. 6 Golubic came off contrasting paths from the Round of 16 heading into their gigantic duel for a shot at No. 2 seed Tatjana Maria of Germany in the Final Four. WTA No. 44 Maria, the No. 2 seed, had a walkover over WTA No. 63 and No. 5 seed Yulia Putintseva due to still undisclosed reasons.

But first things first for the WTA No. 58 Eala, who has to recover quickly from a gruelling duel against WTA No. 106 Greet Minnen in three hours and 18 minutes as one of the longest battles in her skyrocketing career.

The 20-year-old Filipina pride hacked out a 7-6(5), (3)6-7, 7-5 win over Minnen to notch her fourth straight quarterfinal stint in the WTA Tour and bagged a guaranteeed $3,450 (over P200,000) purse.

She now has a chance to jack it up to $5,300 or approximately P308,000 with a win against the 32-year-old Golubic in a still-to-be determined game time Friday, pending the completion of other Round-of-16 duels. Her match against Golubic is scheduled third in four quarterfinal pairing at centercourt.

More than that, Eala could move two steps away from capturing her second WTA title in a month after a breakthrough crown in the WTA125 Guadalajara Open in Mexico.

She also made the quarterfinals of the WTA250 Sao Paulo Open in Brazil and the the semifinals of the WTA125 Jingshan nearby, shoring up her stature as one of the most consistent players in the WTA Tour that will also include stops in the Wuhan Open from October 6-12 and the Hong Kong Open from October 27 to November 2.

That bid, however, will be a tough one against the Golubic, who hardly broke a sweat against WTA No. 140 Linda Fruhvirtova with a 6-2, 6-0 win in 61 minutes in their own Round-of-16 duel.