Author: user user

7 CIW officials, personnel face charges over missing trust fund

Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. on Wednesday ordered the filing of criminal, administrative and civil cases against two former Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) superintendents and five other personnel over alleged irregularities in the handling of funds for persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).

In a statement, Catapang said the directive followed an investigation by the Directorate for Intelligence and Investigation (DII) into the missing funds.

Catapang approved the recommendation to initiate administrative proceedings before the BuCor Office of Internal Affairs Service against Senior Superintendents Daisy Sevilla-Castillote and Marjorie Ann Sanidad, Corrections Officer 2 Bianca Flor Ramos, and Corrections Officers 1 Maryrose Abucay, Madel Figuerres, Gloria Lakisa and Charlot Jennifer Carreon.

In its report dated Aug. 30, the DII found that Ramos, who served as CIW trust fund officer, could not account for P5.15 million in the PDL Trust Fund.

However, the final audit report of the parallel investigation conducted by the BuCor Internal Audit Service Unit on Aug. 25 reflected an unaccounted amount of P6.4 million without deducting the more than P1.2 million accounted amount yet to be collected or listed as receivables.

Catapang said a second review would be conducted to reconcile the difference.

Castillote, meanwhile, would face administrative proceedings for gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct during her tenure as CIW superintendent.

According to the investigation, she failed to exercise the required diligence in supervising, monitoring, reconciling and maintaining institutional control over the trust fund.

She also failed to comply with the BuCor PDL Trust Fund policy, the primary guideline governing the fund’s management, responsibility, monitoring and supervision.

Restrictions violated

The investigation further alleged that Castillote expressly authorized the use of trust fund money to renovate and improve the CIW multipurpose hall, overseer’s office and Investigation and Verification Section Unit, violating restrictions on the administration, use and disposition of trust fund resources.

Sanidad, who served as acting CIW superintendent before Castillote’s appointment, was also cited for authorizing the advancement of P300,000 from the Trust Fund to cover an LBC remittance intended for PDLs that reportedly had not been properly transmitted. The transaction was likewise deemed inconsistent with existing policies governing the use and disposition of trust fund resources.

On the other hand, Abucay, who was designated as the incoming CIW trust fund officer, was cited for deficiencies related to the turnover of duties. These included the absence of a formal turnover document, the lack of independent witnesses during the turnover of cash and other accountabilities, and her failure to ensure the adequate documentation and verification of funds subsequently discovered after the turnover.

The investigation also identified deficiencies involving Figuerres, Lakisa and Carreon in performing their duties as trust fund staff. These included lapses in the recording, documentation, monitoring, reconciliation, maintenance and verification of trust fund transactions and related records. The BuCor said the personnel’s collective shortcomings contributed to weaknesses in the accuracy, reliability and accountability of trust fund documentation

Trump to meet Gulf leaders to discuss next phase of Iran War

US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with leaders and foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) next Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss the next phase of the war with Iran, Axios reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

The meeting is expected to focus on US proposals for a postwar strategy as the Trump administration works on a plan for the period following the conflict. According to the sources, the administration is expected to finalize its broader ‘day-after’ strategy after the US midterm elections.

Representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman are expected to participate in the talks. The US State Department sent initial invitations on Wednesday, while the meeting could potentially be expanded to include other Arab and Muslim leaders.

The planned discussions come as Washington signals that it is seeking a path toward ending the conflict. Trump said Wednesday that he hoped the war was nearing its end and again claimed that Iran had communicated directly with the United States about reaching a deal.

The Gulf states have a direct interest in the outcome of the war. They host US military bases and have faced Iranian attacks and economic disruptions during the conflict, including interruptions to oil and natural gas exports.

For Washington, the meeting could provide an opportunity to coordinate with key regional partners on security and economic issues before a postwar framework is finalized. Energy infrastructure, shipping routes and the stability of regional oil and gas markets are expected to remain important concerns.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also wants to meet Trump in New York, although no meeting has been scheduled, according to an Israeli source cited by Axios.

The upcoming talks would continue Trump’s efforts to engage Gulf and other Arab and Muslim governments directly on major regional conflicts. The administration’s approach suggests that Washington is increasingly focusing on the political and security arrangements that could follow the current conflict, although the timing and terms of any potential settlement with Iran remain uncertain.

Government calls for shift from control to facilitation

The Government has called for a shift from a control-oriented approach to one focused on facilitating economic activities and investment, saying the change is necessary to support private-sector growth and implementation of Development Vision 2050.

Prime Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba made the remarks on September 17, 2026, at the National Planners’ Conference in Arusha, saying excessive emphasis on regulation in some areas needed to give way to greater facilitation.

He said government officials needed to reconsider how they manage economic activities by creating conditions that make it easier for businesses to invest, expand production and create jobs. Dr Nchemba said the shift was particularly important because Dira 2050 expects the private sector to account for 70 per cent of its implementation.

‘This change is important because Vision 2050 expects the private sector to contribute 70 percent to its implementation. Achieving this target requires an environment that enables both domestic and foreign investment, expands productive activities and increases the number of taxpayers rather than relying on increasing taxes alone,’ he said.

The Prime Minister said Tanzania needed to change the way it worked to ensure development planning reflected changing economic circumstances.

He said planners should recognise that the conditions under which development plans are implemented could change, requiring policies and implementation approaches to respond accordingly.

Among the changes, he cited the declining availability of aid and concessional loans, which he said made domestic resources increasingly important in financing development.

Dr Nchemba said the changes in development financing required Tanzania to reconsider how it supported economic activities and created conditions for investment.

He said strengthening the private sector would be central to expanding production and broadening the country’s revenue base.

According to the Prime Minister, a stronger private sector would contribute to increased economic activity, creating more taxpayers and expanding the resources available to finance development.

He said increasing government revenue should not be approached only through higher taxes, but also through policies that encourage businesses to invest, expand their operations and increase economic activity.

Dr Nchemba said planners and other Government officials should ensure policies, plans and implementation mechanisms were designed to respond to changing circumstances rather than relying on approaches used in the past.

He said the shift towards facilitation should form part of efforts to create an environment in which businesses could participate more effectively in achieving national development targets.

The Prime Minister’s remarks came as Tanzania begins implementing Dira 2050, which seeks to transform the country’s economy and increase the role of private investment in achieving its long-term development targets.

The call also places the private sector at the centre of discussions on how the Government can translate the long-term vision into practical economic activities and results.

The conference, which brought together national planners, focused on implementation of Dira 2050 under the theme ‘Delivering Vision 2050: Strengthening Integrated Planning, Execution and Results’.

Dr Nchemba said changes in the operating environment should be reflected in the way Government plans and implements development programmes.

He said the objective should be to facilitate productive economic activity while maintaining necessary oversight, allowing the private sector to play its expected role in achieving the country’s long-term development ambitions.

Proposed 2027 budget for PDEA’s 240 working dogs only P2.9M

PhilReca party-list Rep. Presley de Jesus on Wednesday objected to what he described as the ‘very low’ proposed allocation in next year’s budget for the training and care of Narcotic Detection Dogs or K9s under the care of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

According to De Jesus, the role played by the drug sniffing dogs in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs is far too important for them to be given a small budget.

Marikina City Rep. Marcy Teodoro, who sponsored the proposed P4.41-billion PDEA budget for 2027, had said that only P2.9 million would be allocated for the feeding, breeding and maintenance of training facilities for 240 dogs under PDEA.

He added that of the 240 dogs, only 142 of them are deployed to ports of entry. Teodoro also noted that the dogs, which are highly trained, are crucial to PDEA’s search and seizure operations for illegal drugs.

‘P2.9 million is such a very low amount when they are our front-liners when it comes to apprehending those drugs. The P2.9 million budget is too low,’ De Jesus said in his interpellation.

Teodoro agreed, saying the budget should be amended while De Jesus said he would push for a budget increase specifically for the dogs.

New training facility

Teodoro, meanwhile, said the House committee on appropriations should also focus on the training systems for K9s, adding that a new training facility for the dogs would be built in Tanay, Rizal.

The plight of police dogs caught the public’s attention in August last year after a photo of Kobe, a bomb-sniffing dog assigned to the explosive ordnance disposal and K9 unit of the Philippine National Police, went viral. Netizens noted his emaciated appearance, with his ribs clearly visible under his fur.

While the PNP assured the public that Kobe’s laboratory tests were normal, he was fed regularly and his vaccines were up to date, it later coordinated with Animal Kingdom Foundation for the dog to undergo a two-month rehabilitation period before deployment.

Kobe and other police dogs also received donations of dog food from concerned animal lovers.

Air quality shifts from ‘very unhealthy’ to ‘fair’

Air quality in Metro Cebu has improved significantly from ‘very unhealthy’ on September 1 to ‘fair’ as of September 16, with the latest monitoring showing better conditions in both Metro Cebu and Toledo City.

The Environmental Management Bureau Region VII (EMB-7) recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 57 in Metro Cebu as of 7 a.m. on September 16, classified as fair.

Meanwhile, the Barangay Cabitoonan monitoring station in Toledo City recorded an AQI of 17, classified as good.

The latest figures indicate a substantial change from the beginning of the month, when Metro Cebu recorded an AQI of 173 on September 1, classified as very unhealthy.

Air quality further deteriorated over the next two days, with the AQI reaching 208 on September 2 and peaking at 251 on September 3, both classified as acutely unhealthy.

The September 3 reading of 251 was the highest recorded AQI in Metro Cebu during the September 1 to 16 monitoring period.

The air quality remained poor on September 4, with AQI readings of 202 at 7 a.m. and 197 at 11 a.m., before improving to 159 on September 5.

From September 6 to 9, the AQI gradually declined but remained within the unhealthy for sensitive groups category.

Metro Cebu recorded AQI readings of 126 to 136 on September 6, 143 on September 7, 121 on September 8, and 116 on September 9.

A marked improvement was recorded on September 10, when the AQI dropped to 86, classified as fair.

It remained fair on September 11 at 97, but air quality deteriorated again on September 12 when the AQI rose to 154, classified as very unhealthy.

The improvement resumed over the following days, with Metro Cebu recording an AQI of 84 on September 13, 73 on September 14, 78 on September 15, and 57 as of 7 a.m. on September 16.

The September 16 reading represents a 116-point, or about 67 percent, improvement from the AQI of 173 recorded on September 1.

Meanwhile, air quality in Toledo City also showed a substantial improvement during the monitoring period.

The Barangay Cabitoonan station recorded an AQI of 113, classified as unhealthy for sensitive groups, on September 4. The reading improved to 79 later that day and further declined to 44 on September 5.

The station subsequently recorded AQIs of 47 on September 6, 48 on September 7, 33 on September 10, 28 on September 11, 25 on September 13, 20 on September 14, 10 on September 15, and 17 as of 7 a.m. on September 16, all classified as good.

EMB-7 has been closely monitoring the air quality amid the haze affecting the region, which authorities earlier associated with transboundary smoke and fine particulate matter from forest and wildfire activity in Indonesia.

Prevailing weather conditions, including southwest monsoon winds, can influence the movement and concentration of particulate matter and result in fluctuations in air quality.

Despite the significant improvement, EMB-7 continues to advise the public to monitor official air quality updates and take appropriate precautions whenever pollution levels rise.

Government calls for development plans to be matched with self-reliance strategy

Tanzania must further strengthen its domestic capacity to finance development programmes as changes in aid and concessional loans increasingly require countries to rely more on their own resources, Prime Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba has said.

Dr Nchemba said development planning should therefore be matched with strategies for mobilising domestic resources to finance the targets being set.

He made the remarks on September 17, 2026, while closing the National Planners’ Conference 2026 in Arusha, held under the theme ‘Delivering Vision 2050: Strengthening Integrated Planning, Execution and Results’. The Prime Minister said many African countries had previously relied heavily on aid to finance their budgets, but the situation was changing as concessional financing became less available and countries increasingly turned to blended and commercial financing.

He said the changes were part of the development process and should prompt Tanzania to consider how its development goals would be financed when planning for their implementation.

‘Tanzania must, when setting its development targets, also plan how to implement them by relying more on domestic resources,’ he said.

Dr Nchemba urged Government officials to support implementation of recommendations made by the Presidential Commission on Tax Reform aimed at increasing domestic revenue.

‘It is therefore important for officials to support the implementation of the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on Tax Reform aimed at increasing domestic revenue,’ he said.

He, however, said increasing Government revenue could not be achieved through the public sector alone.

The Prime Minister said Tanzania needed to create an environment that allowed the private sector to expand, attract both domestic and foreign investment and increase economic activity.

He said expanding economic activity would broaden the country’s tax base and increase the number of taxpayers contributing to domestic revenue.

According to Dr Nchemba, stronger domestic financing capacity will be essential as Tanzania implements Development Vision 2050 and reduce its dependence on external development finance.

He said development plans should be realistic about the resources required to deliver their targets, ensuring that priorities identified through planning are supported by strategies for raising the funds needed to implement them.

The approach, he said, would help strengthen the connection between development priorities, financing decisions and implementation as countries adjust to changes in international financing.

He also linked stronger domestic revenue mobilisation to the country’s ability to sustain development programmes and pursue its goals.

The remarks came as planners gathered to discuss how Tanzania can translate Development Vision 2050 into effective implementation and measurable results. The conference focused on strengthening integrated planning, execution and results.

Dr Nchemba said the shift towards greater domestic resource mobilisation should be reflected in development planning, rather than treated as a separate issue after targets have been established.

He said this would require Government officials to consider financing alongside development priorities when preparing plans and implementing programmes.

The Prime Minister also emphasised the role of increased economic activity in expanding the revenue base. A growing private sector, higher investment, he said, would create more taxpayers contributing to Government revenue.

Romualdez pleads not guilty in P7.4 billion plunder case

Leyte representative and former speaker Martin Romualdez has pleaded not guilty to plunder charges over his alleged P7.4-billion kickbacks from flood control projects.

Romualdez, in a wheelchair, entered his plea yesterday at the New Quezon City Jail after the Sandiganbayan Third Division allowed his arraignment via video conferencing.

The anti-graft court, however, denied for lack of merit his request for waiving of the reading of the formal charges against him.

It also denied his plea to be transferred to a tertiary hospital in Quezon City, emphasizing that the lawmaker is well enough to stay at the New Quezon City Jail.

Third Division chairman Associate Justice Karl Miranda cited the findings of the Philippine General Hospital, which stated that Romualdez is clinically stable and does not require further hospital confinement.

‘The mere invocation of ill health is not sufficient for an accused’s continued confinement in a hospital,’ Miranda said. ‘There are many more PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) that have worse medical conditions compared to congressman Romualdez.’

With Romualdez during his arraignment was lawyer Jose Roy III.

Since the lawmaker pleaded not guilty, the case was automatically submitted for trial. The court has set pre-marking of evidence on Sept. 18, 21, 22, 23 and 24.

Martin to seek bail

Romualdez’s camp said he would file a petition for bail.

The anti-graft court gave Romualdez 10 days to explain why he should not be preventively suspended while on trial for plunder.

Another Romualdez lawyer, Ade Fajardo, said they requested for video conferencing to avoid ‘contracting an emergency situation’ as the lawmaker’s condition is still fragile.

He also said they had requested for a waiver of the reading of the formal charges because Romualdez – himself a lawyer – is aware of the charges against him. Moreover, Fajardo said, the reading of charges was ‘additional stress’ to Romualdez.

‘He is maintaining his innocence and we’re in pre-trial proceedings wherein we laid down the evidence, and we have to have all these marked for orderly trial proceedings,’ he said.

‘If the evidence is strong, the Sandiganbayan can deny the petition for bail. That’s why we are proceeding to the petition for bail so that the prosecution can finally present to the court what their evidence is,’ Fajardo said.

He said they would also discuss requesting the court’s permission to allow Romualdez not to physically appear at his trial.

Romualdez, tagged as the ‘central figure’ by the Office of the Ombudsman in the multibillion-peso flood control kickback scheme, was charged with plunder on Sept. 7.

When an arrest warrant was issued, the lawmaker was already confined at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center for cardiovascular event and a supposed panic attack.

Authorities then served the warrant and conducted booking procedures in the hospital. They released photos of Romualdez, showing him lying in a hospital bed, with a detainee shirt draped over his hospital gown.

Romualdez’s co-accused in the plunder charges are former lawmaker and fugitive Zaldy Co and private individuals Joselyn Serenio and Felicito Guevarra.

His detention at the infirmary ward of the New Quezon City Jail was not a form of special treatment, as it was made upon the recommendations of doctors of the PGH where the legislator stayed over the weekend, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla emphasized.

‘While you might think that the way he was treated was over and above – well just check the commitment orders and recommendation from PGH,’ Remulla said.

Wait-and-see

But the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte said it is not yet convinced of the sincerity of the administration in holding corrupt officials accountable despite the filing of plunder case against Romualdez.

‘We can’t make a judgment early because we haven’t seen the specific accusations against Martin Romualdez and the specific evidence. Isn’t it easy to file a case? They’ve already filed a lot with the VP, I hope there is no basis,’ Duterte’s spokesman and lawyer Paolo Panelo said in a chance interview.

‘Whether the correct basis was used to file this complaint against Martin Romualdez, if our government is really serious, let’s wait and see,’ Panelo said

Soft demand to slow Toyota’s PH production in ’26

Philippine production at Japanese automotive giant Toyota may slow in 2026 as weak demand weighs on vehicle sales, putting the automaker on track to fall short of its banner production year in 2025.

According to Toyota Motor Philippines senior vice president Sherwin Chua-Lim, output from the company’s Santa Rosa plant in Laguna may settle at close to 60,000 units in 2026, lower than the 63,804 units it produced in 2025.

Chua-Lim said weak domestic demand was among the factors behind the projected production slowdown, as the broader Philippine automotive market grapples with macroeconomic pressures, including elevated fuel prices.

Already, Toyota saw local vehicle production drop 10 percent in the first eight months of the year to 38,221 units from 42,469 units in the same period last year.

Toyota locally assembles the Vios, Tamaraw and Innova at its Laguna plant.

The Vios remained its most-produced model at 18,321 units, accounting for 48 percent of output. The Tamaraw followed this at 12,468 units, or 33 percent, and the Innova at 7,432 units, or 19 percent.

Toyota said production initially showed signs of recovery in July, when output reached 5,540 units, but slipped again to 4,540 units in August. Sales likewise dipped to 14,594 units in August from 17,797 units in July.

‘Demand remains soft due to macroeconomic factors,’ the company said.

Even with the slowdown, Chua-Lim noted that Toyota maintains a strong position in the Philippine automotive market, particularly in the sedan segment with the locally assembled Vios.

In the first seven months of 2026, Toyota remained the Philippines’ top-selling automotive brand by a wide margin, having sold 118,706 units, down 8.2 percent from the same period last year.

That was still enough to give Toyota nearly half of the market and a sizable lead over the No. 2 car brand, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp., which sold 42,592 units during the period.

Looking ahead, Toyota is positioning the Tamaraw as an increasingly important part of its local manufacturing mix. The model has already overtaken the Innova in production volume this year.

Toyota is also widening the Tamaraw’s applications through its local conversion program. TMP now offers 13 conversions for businesses and local governments, working with seven body builders and conversion partners.

The company earlier said it plans to enroll the Tamaraw under the revived Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement program, whose framework the government is still finalizing.

EPA Shuts Down Empire Cement Over Air Pollution

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has ordered Empire Cement Ghana Limited to shut down its factory operations with immediate effect over alleged air pollution and breaches of its environmental permit conditions.

The directive followed investigations by the EPA into several public complaints concerning air pollution and nuisance allegedly emanating from the company’s operations.

In an enforcement notice dated September 14, 2026, the EPA said its investigations had established sustained emissions of visible particulate and gaseous pollutants from the factory, with negative implications for the environment, adjoining land uses and public health.

The authority also found that the company had failed to submit its quarterly environmental monitoring returns, in violation of a condition of its environmental permit.

According to the notice, Empire Cement had also failed to implement key conditions of its permit, including the installation of appropriate state-of-the-art pollution control systems on all pollution discharge units to ensure compliance with the Ghana Standard for Environment and Health Protection-Requirements for Ambient Air Quality and Point Source/Stack Emissions (GS 1236:2019).

The EPA further said existing pollution control systems and auxiliary equipment were not being maintained in good working condition to reduce air pollution and keep emissions within permissible limits.

It said the company had also failed to effectively maintain dust-control plants within the factory and ensure that pollution control systems remained functional at all times.

Based on the findings, the EPA said Empire Cement was in breach of several conditions of its environmental permit and directed the company to suspend operations until it had taken corrective measures.

The company has been given until October 1, 2026 to submit its quarterly environmental monitoring returns in accordance with its permit.

It is also required to install state-of-the-art air pollution control systems and ensure that its existing pollution control systems and auxiliary equipment comply with the GS 1236:2019 emissions standards.

In addition, the EPA has directed the company to engage the affected community on the impacts of its operations and the measures being taken to mitigate them, and submit a report on the engagement to the authority.

The EPA said Empire Cement must notify it when the required pollution control systems had been installed to allow for inspection and a determination on whether operations could resume.

It stressed that the company could only restart operations after the installation of pollution control systems capable of meeting the prescribed emissions standards and after receiving written permission from the authority.

The EPA warned that failure to comply with the directive could result in further enforcement action authorised by law, including administrative penalties and other regulatory sanctions under the Environmental Protection Act, 2025 (Act 1124), the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2022 (Act 1080), and the conditions of the company’s environmental permit.

AI transforming, not cutting PH outsourcing jobs – study

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has not yet caused a decline in the Philippines’ service-export revenues or employment, ING Bank N.V. said, arguing that AI is so far changing what gets outsourced rather than reducing demand for outsourced work.

In a report, Deepali Bhargava, head of Asia-Pacific research at ING, said there was evidence that AI was reshaping the composition of service exports and employment in both the Philippines and India, another global outsourcing powerhouse.

Telecom and computer services have continued to expand alongside business services exports, lifting their combined share of the Philippine economy to 7.1 percent by mid-2026 from 6.3 percent before the pandemic, Bhargava said.

The composition of those exports, however, has changed as demand moves toward faster-growing segments.

The bank said digitally delivered services exports have grown 24 percent since 2022, with financial and computer services increasingly driving growth. Financial services exports have expanded by about 25 percent a year over that period, while computer services exports have also posted strong gains.

Adjusting exposure

Meanwhile, traditional business services have moderated after the post-COVID surge in outsourcing demand.

‘The Philippines appears to be adjusting by increasing its exposure to faster-growing segments such as financial and computer services,’ Bhargava said, adding there’s ‘little evidence so far that it’s causing outright contraction in export revenues.’

On employment, Bhargava said evidence so far points to job transformation rather than job destruction.

ING Bank said the combined employment data for the information and communication, professional, scientific and technical services sectors showed jobs had increased by around 4.5 percent over the past year, with the recent readings remaining close to their long-term trends.

‘AI disruption fears look premature in India and the Philippines,’ Bhargava said. ‘The bigger story is one of upgrading, with growth increasingly concentrated in higher-skilled, more technology-intensive activities.’