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Former Speaker Martin Romualdez on Tuesday said he is willing to publicize his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) should the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) require it.

Romualdez said this after attending an ICI hearing where he was invited to discuss his ‘familiarity and personal knowledge’ on insertions in the national budget and flood control projects.

Asked if he would be willing to publicize his SALN if needed in the investigation, the lawmaker responded in the affirmative.

‘I will do [so] at the [insistence] of the commission,’ said Romualdez during a chance interview after the hearing.

Meanwhile, in a separate interview, ICI Executive Director Brian Hosaka said he would inform the commission members about Romualdez’s willingness to make his SALN public.

‘We’ll probably take that up in the commission and I’ll inform the three,’ said Hosaka.

‘If they decide to ask the former speaker about his SALN, then probably they will do that in the next few weeks,’ he added.

Newly installed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla previously announced that he intends to make SALNs of public officials public.

He is also planning to subject them to lifestyle checks. /apl

Just days after his appointment, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Monday he has ordered the withdrawal of cases filed before the Sandiganbayan over the multibillion-peso Pharmally scandal so that these could be reviewed and evaluated for refiling.

‘I gave instructions to withdraw first the cases of Pharmally, where there has been no arraignment yet with the Sandiganbayan, because I want to reevaluate the cases. I want to know the details which are put into the cases because they really matter,’ he said at a press briefing.

‘I want the Sandiganbayan to have a good grasp of the cases immediately. What I want is for the cases to be all ready for trial when we file the information at the Sandiganbayan,’ Remulla added.

According to him, there was a lack of coordination among the fact-finding, evaluation, preliminary investigation and prosecution teams that handled the cases before.

Uncoordinated efforts

‘Everybody was in the dark; [they were] not working as a complete team . It should be a fully laid-out plan. It can’t be segmented, with one team not knowing what the other is doing,’ Remulla said.

‘That is why I really thought it would be wiser to withdraw these cases so that we could reevaluate them, to make sure that the work done by the investigators, the Senate, and everyone involved in uncovering the Pharmally cases would not go to waste,’ he explained.

He said that around six to eight cases related to the Pharmally scandal had been filed before the Sandiganbayan, including two in which the accused were already arraigned. He said that he expected more cases to be filed following the review.

Asked how long the reevaluation and review will take, Remulla replied: ‘Not long, because [the cases] already underwent preliminary investigation. We just need to study the resolution thoroughly based on the evidence we collected from the investigation and what we have here at the Ombudsman.’

Forgotten cases

Shortly after he took office on Oct. 9, Remulla said his immediate tasks would include a review of the Pharmally case, which he noted seemed to have been ‘buried in oblivion.’

‘But these kinds of cases shouldn’t really be forgotten because we know the allegations have weight,’ he said.

Based on an investigation conducted by the Senate blue ribbon committee probe from August 2021 to January 2022, Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. was awarded P11.5 billion worth of contracts despite having a paid-up capital of only P625,000.

It was the single biggest chunk of government contracts for COVID-19 supplies awarded to private companies at the time.

The contracts included 8,000 BGI real-time fluorescent RT-PCR test kits totaling P600 million; 2,000 A*Star Fortitude RT-PCR test kits worth P688 million; and 41,400 BGI real-time fluorescent RT-PCR kits worth P2.877 billion.

The Senate inquiry led by then blue ribbon committee chair Sen. Richard Gordon resulted in a draft report that endorsed criminal charges against several public officials and private individuals. But it was archived at the close of the 18th Congress in June 2022, as the majority of seated senators at the time refused to sign it.

In a recent interview, Gordon urged Remulla to revisit the case and hold former President Rodrigo Duterte liable for allegedly defrauding the government during the height of the pandemic.

He accused Duterte of being ‘part and parcel of a conspiracy to fleece the country of at least P11 billion to P47 billion in the Pharmally scandal.’

Three powerful quakes happening about 20 minutes apart from each other hit off the coast of Manay, Davao Oriental, on Tuesday morning.

The first tremor struck at 10 a.m., some 101 kilometers northeast of Manay, and was measured at magnitude 5.8 with Instrumental Intensity 1 here and in Digos City, Davao del Sur, Malita and St. Maria, Davao Occidental; Nabunturan, Davao de Oro; and Malungon, Sarangani.

According to state seismologists, this was an aftershock of Friday’s quake.

At 10:19 a.m., a 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck 97 kilometers northeast of Manay with Instrumental Intensity 1 in Nabunturan, Davao de Oro.

Another 5.2-magnitude tremor, still another aftershock of Friday’s quake, struck at 10:39 a.m. 25 kilometers northeast of Manay, with Instrumental Intensity 2 in Nabunturan.

All three quakes had a depth of 10 kilometers./coa

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has turned over to the Office of the Ombudsman for assessment and review the department’s findings, following its investigation into the alleged anomalous flood control projects.

Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon and DOJ officer-in-charge Frederick Vida formally transmitted the documents to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla during a press briefing on Tuesday.

According to Fadullon, they turned over five cases related to the alleged ghost flood control projects in Bulacan.

‘There are five cases which are being turned over now to the Office of the Ombudsman involving officials from the district office and the contractors who are involved,’ Fadullon told reporters.

‘These involve cases of malversation under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code, falsification by public officers under Article 171 of the RPC, perjury under Article 183 of the RPC, and Section 3e of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act),’ he specified.

Fadullon said the department is just awaiting instructions from the Ombudsman as to ‘whether or not they can proceed with the preliminary investigation of these cases’ after the necessary evaluation.

‘It doesn’t mean that this ends here. There are more to come, but there is what we call a process that needs to be done wherein we make sure that there is evidence before filing a case,’ he explained.

Earlier, Remulla said the flood control cases would be among his priorities, particularly those filed by the Independent Commission on Infrastructure, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Public Works and Highways through Secretary Vince Dizon. /apl

A lot of eyes will be on three Bukidnon natives when the P3.5 million ICTSI Del Monte Championship gets underway on Tuesday, with two of them given more than a fair chance to prevail as the Philippine Golf Tour goes into its ending three-leg swing in Mindanao.

But the third one, arguably the biggest pro golf icon this country has produced, will start his comeback trail after sitting it out for a long time because of an undisclosed illness.

And there’s no doubt that Frankie Miñoza will have the backing of his whole hometown once he tees it up in an official tournament again.

Out of action for close to two years, the ageless wonder looks fit and ready for high-level play as he renews his battles with the best in the country, led by fellow home bets Clyde Mondilla and Reymon Jaraula.

Miñoza has never left the game, so to speak, making appearances whenever he could, especially at tournaments that Del Monte hosts. He was even seen two weeks ago at The Country Club in Laguna, giving support to the South team in the Elite Finals that concluded the JPGT season.

Mondilla and Jaraula, meanwhile, were 1-2 the last time the tour made a stop at the tree-lined layout, and both acknowledge that course knowledge can serve them well.

But that’s just half of the job.

‘I’m comfortable playing my home course. But you still cannot take this layout for granted,’ the long-hitting Mondilla said in Filipino after playing in the Pro-Am on Monday. ‘This course teaches you something new every round. You have to play it with a lot of respect.’

Jaraula, on the other hand, would like to make full use of his local knowledge, but knows that aside from Mondilla, a slew of very capable players can win.

There’s Keanu Jahns, who will be taking good form int the 72-hole championship, Rupert Zaragosa, who won at Marapara two weeks ago and another durable star in Antonio Lascuña, the 54-year-old who knows that length is not the biggest factor at Del Monte.

‘It’s still anybody’s game because Del Monte is so tricky,’ Lascuña said in Filipino. ‘It’s a thinking player’s course. You can’t overpower it.’ INQ

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. inaugurated the P487.46-million Union water impounding dam project and P247.92-million irrigation component in Claveria, Cagayan Tuesday.

Marcos acknowledged that the dam is a major infrastructure project aimed at reducing flooding, improving irrigation, and spurring eco-tourism in the province.

Marcos added that the dam now provides a reliable water supply to more than 3,000 hectares of farmland, directly benefiting over 3,500 farmers in surrounding barangays. It also serves as a flood-mitigation structure, protecting downstream communities during heavy rains.

With its scenic mountain backdrop and vast reservoir, the Union Dam is also seen to boost local tourism and sustainable livelihoods, Cagayan Governor Edgar Aglipay said.

The President will travel by helicopter to his next stopover in Camalaniugan, this time for an inspection of the still-to-be-completed Camalaniugan-Aparri bridge.

The project, which links Camalaniugan to the western part of Aparri, is expected to be completed on February 24, 2026./coa

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday pledged to complete the establishment of 147 rice processing centers nationwide by the end of 2025 to boost post-harvest facilities and improve farmers’ productivity.

Marcos made the assurance during his visits to Claveria, where he inaugurated the Union Water Impounding Dam, and to Camalaniugan, where he inspected the nearly finished P2-billion Camalaniugan-Aparri Bridge.

He said the rice processing centers – which will handle drying, milling, and polishing – include three facilities allotted to Cagayan, as earlier promised during his visit to Gonzaga last month.

Cagayan Gov. Edgar Aglipay welcomed the President’s statements, saying the projects would significantly improve the production, processing, and marketing of rice across the province.

The president also said that farmers will be provided with trucks, high-yield rice varieties, and seed subsidies to strengthen agricultural support and food security efforts.

The Office of the City Building Officials (OCBO) here has tagged the Vivaldi Residences, touted as Mindanao’s tallest building, among structures that sustained damage from the doublet quake that struck Davao Oriental and most of Visayas and Mindanao regions on Friday.

The 36-story building, however, only received a yellow tag by OCBO, which means that its use would be restricted until the moderate structural or non-structural damage discovered during inspection underwent repairs, and the building would be declared fit for full re-occupancy.

OCBO also defined a yellow tag to mean that certain areas may remain accessible under controlled conditions, subject to its approval.

Given that similar yellow tags were on Buildings A, B, and C of Felcris Centrale, the parking building of the Gaisano Mall of Davao along Bajada, and the Mesatierra Garden Residences.

The OCBO also red-tagged four other buildings here, following the rapid visual inspection it conducted with the Philippines Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) Davao City chapter.

Unlike the yellow tag, the red tag of the OCBO meant the occupancy of the building would be strictly prohibited. The inspection results of the tagged building indicated that the structure had sustained severe damage and was considered dangerous for occupancy.

According to the public notice, the red tag also indicated that it would require a comprehensive structural assessment, during which the entry or use of the premises would be prohibited until all necessary repairs have been completed and cleared by the OCBO.

Buildings that were red-tagged here included the administrative building and school building of Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao in Matina; the Velvet Suites and Hotel in Oroderm City along C.M. Recto St.; the Toledo Building 3 of Magallanes Residences along Magallanes St., and the Teleperformance Davao, or part of the SM Annex Building in Ecoland.

OCBO directed all concerned establishments to strictly comply with the conditions and safety requirements before it could allow re-occupancy of the buildings.

‘These measures are implemented to ensure the safety and protection of residents, tenants, and the general public,’ OCBO said in the advisory.

OCBO and the PICE are continuing their inspections of other establishments with reported cracks.

The 7.4 magnitude offshore quake that jolted Manay, Davao Oriental, at 9:45 a.m. and its 6.9 magnitude doublet that followed at 7:12 p.m. both on October 10 have displaced more than 2,000 people from their homes in Davao Oriental. It also damaged infrastructures and buildings in the surrounding provinces of Davao de Oro and Davao del Norte

Relatively cheap food, including rice and utility costs, kept inflation steady for two consecutive months in the vegetable-growing highlands of the Cordillera, which posted a 2.2-percent inflation rate in both August and September, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Monday.

Aldrin Federico Bahit Jr., PSA chief statistician for the Cordillera, said the most notable trend was the continued deflation – or negative inflation rate – in the interior provinces of Abra and Kalinga, which are among the region’s main rice producers.

Abra recorded a -0.4 percent inflation in September from -0.1 percent in August, while Kalinga’s rate dropped further to -0.5 percent in September from -0.4 percent in the previous month.

Baguio City, the region’s highly urbanized hub, saw its inflation ease to 3.5 percent in September from 4.6 percent in August, said Imelda Buyuccan, PSA Benguet chief statistical specialist.

Despite the decline, the city continued to post the highest inflation rate in the Cordillera, also composed of six provinces and the component city of Tabuk in Kalinga.

Bahit said overall inflation in the region was sustained partly by the rising prices of vegetables and pork, even as many commodities showed slower inflationary movements.

Rental costs across the region registered a 5.7-percent inflation rate in September, lower than 6.4 percent in August. Pork inflation declined slightly to 11.9 percent from 12.1 percent, while poultry meat prices rose marginally to 8.8 percent from 8.5 percent.

Cabbage prices, however, surged sharply, posting an 89.4-percent inflation rate in September, up from 73.7 percent in August.

Benefits for households

The inflation trend benefited upland households in the bottom 30 percent income bracket of the Cordillera’s 1.79 million population (as of the 2020 census), which experienced deflation of -1.6 percent in September, improving from -0.5 percent in August.

In Abra, the lower inflation was attributed to the continued decline in rice prices, which dropped to -13.1 percent in September from -7.9 percent in August, said Felixberto Perdido, the province’s chief statistical specialist. Prices of cocoa and soft drinks also fell, from 3.3 percent in August to -0.1 percent in September. Information and communication services, including mobile communications, likewise saw inflation slow to 0 percent from 2.1 percent.

In Kalinga, the deeper deflation was mainly driven by a reduction in rice prices, from -16.4 percent in August to -21.8 percent in September, said Maribel Dalayday, the province’s chief statistical specialist.

Bahit said Apayao’s inflation rose slightly from -1.3 percent in August to 0.1 percent in September, while Benguet’s rate inched up from 2.4 percent to 2.5 percent.

Ifugao, home to the world-famous rice terraces, recorded an inflation increase from 1.9 percent in August to 2.7 percent in September, while Mountain Province also posted a higher rate of 2.6 percent, up from 1.7 percent in the previous month.

Broadcasting Congress’ budget deliberations live is an effective way to prevent lawmakers from meddling with the national budget, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said on Tuesday.

‘It’s good that their budget deliberations are now being aired live.’ said Pangandaman in a chance interview before the start of the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) hearing, when asked what could be done to prevent lawmakers from dipping their fingers in the national budget.

‘And then there are civil society organizations attending, not just as observers., think they also get the chance to ask questions,’ she added.

She expressed hope that the Congress’ bicameral budget hearings will also be broadcast to the public.

‘It would be good to broadcast all budget deliberations live on the floor, in the committee and hopefully even the bicam sessions as well.’

ICI hearing

Pangandaman went to the ICI after she was invited to provide the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) authoritative input on the National Expenditure Program and the General Appropriations Act.

After the hearing, ICI Executive Director Brian Hosaka said the ICI commissioners also gave the DBM suggestions on how the budget process could be improved.

‘There was an exchange between the ICI and DBM on certain improvements that could be undertaken by the DBM,’ said Hosaka.

He, however, did not specify what these suggestions for improvements were. /gsg