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After more than four decades, the state-controlled Planters Products Inc. (PPI) has resumed importing fertilizers to help lower production costs for farmers and improve rice yields.

The firm reentered the fertilizer business by importing 120,000 bags of 14-14-14 inorganic fertilizer from Vietnam, which arrived at the Orion Dockyard in Bataan.

The 14-14-14 (Triple14) complete fertilizer will be provided to farmers ahead of the upcoming planting season.

Benefits

‘At six bags per hectare, this initial volume can support about 20,000 hectares of rice fields and benefit some 20,000 farmers across the country,’ Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.

The 14-14-14 fertilizer, which contains equal parts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, has vital macronutrients that promote robust leaf growth, root development, grain formation and improved resistance to pests and diseases.

‘This revival reaffirms PPI’s legacy of providing affordable, high-quality fertilizers and farm inputs that help ensure food security and agricultural growth,’ PPI chief operations officer Roberto Antonio said in a statement on Monday.

Imported fertilizer

Antonio said this would help local farmers gain access to imported fertilizer at ‘a very reasonable price’ through the Department of Agriculture’s Agri-Puhunan at Pantawid Program.

Data from the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority showed that the price of urea (prilled), the most commonly used fertilizer, averaged P1,707.39 per 50-kilogram bag as of Sept. 8 to Sept. 12, a 4.6 percent rise from P1,631.82 per 50-kg bag recorded a year ago.

In a Viber message, Antonio said the state-led corporation would continue maintaining a buffer stock for this program. But he added: ‘We will only import as needed. Products are coming from Vietnam.’

The Agri-Puhunan at Pantawid Program provides financial and technical assistance to eligible rice farmers. INQ

Asialink Finance Corp., a lender to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), received a $75-million bank loan to ramp up its lending activities, with the company announcing plans to go public earlier than previously announced to raise the share of equity in its financing mix.

The loan facility from Standard Chartered Bank could help Asialink close 2025 with a loan portfolio of about P48.7 billion, Meynard Mendoza, the company’s finance director, told a press conference on Monday.

The facility added to the company’s existing mix of funding partners, which include the International Finance Corp. of the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank and Malaysia-based private equity firm Creador.

IPO

For his part, Robert Jordan, CEO of Asialink Group of Companies, said the company’s planned initial public offering (IPO) may come earlier than its previously announced timeline of 2028, as the financing firm looks to improve its debt-to-equity ratio.

Asialink currently caps its debt-to-equity ratio at 3.5 times, a level Jordan said could be reached by 2027 given the company’s current growth pace.

‘I think with our expansion, we might hit that limit by 2027, by which time we have to explore ways of raising more capital to be able to bring back our debt-to-debt ratio to an acceptable level,’ he added.

‘So, that’s why we’re looking at that earlier year [for IPO], which is 2027,’ he continued.

Lending portfolio

As of the second quarter of 2025, Asialink had a total lending portfolio of P41.9 billion across 159,523 accounts. Nonperforming loans only accounted for 2 percent of the company’s loan book, way below the ratio for the entire local banking sector.

That helped the company generate consolidated revenues of P7.6 billion and a consolidated net income of P1.2 billion.

The company has over 500 branches nationwide and more than 10,000 dealers and consultants.

Moving forward, Jordan said the ongoing easing cycle of the central bank would help MSME borrowers save, enhancing their repayment capacity. He expects two more rate cuts from the central bank, which could bring the benchmark rate to 4.25 percent by 2026.

‘So, it’s good for our business in the sense that our borrowing costs will also go down,’ he said. ‘And when combined with our efficiency and productivity moves or strategies, we hope to pass on some of the savings to our MSME customers.’ INQ

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla revealed that his office has received reports indicating that the government lost nearly P600 billion worth of cases filed before the anti-graft body due to ‘inordinate delay,’ describing the figure as ‘very alarming.’

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Remulla said he is reviewing the reports to verify their accuracy.

‘I got word that the government lost close to P600 billion in cases because of inordinate delay. And I’m reviewing that. I will see if that is true. We will quantify the losses of the government due to case dismissals because of inordinate delay in the prosecution of cases,’ he said in Filipino.

He added: ‘We have to review it, of course. But it’s very alarming, and I would say that it may be true – the losses of government due to nonfeasance. Kasi hindi natin ginagawa yung duty natin; we don’t go all out. Dapat tumigil na ‘yan.’

Earlier, Remulla said the Sandiganbayan is drafting new rules and procedures to help expedite the resolution and filing of cases amid ongoing investigations into controversial flood control projects.

The Office of the Ombudsman has received six cases related to flood control projects in Bulacan and Oriental Mindoro. Remulla said the preliminary investigation into these cases will begin next week, with the filing of charges before the anti-graft court expected by next month.

He added that the preliminary investigation will be completed within 60 days, compared to the usual duration of up to a year. /jpv

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ma. Cristina Aldeguer-Roque has been invited as the resource person for the Independent Commission for Infrastructure’s (ICI) hearing on Wednesday, October 22, to gather further details on the systems and procedure with regard to contractors’ accreditation.

This is still for the ICI’s ongoing investigation into the infrastructure anomalies, specifically flood control irregularities, across the country.

‘It’s for the systems and processes that it does in relation to the role of the PCAB (Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board), how they accredit, and at the same time, what its composition is,’ ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka explained, speaking partly in Filipino, in a press briefing on Tuesday.

‘We also requested her to provide us the registration records of contractors who may be involved in the anomalous flood control projects,’ he added.

Hosaka said the hearing will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at the ICI building in Taguig City.

Roberto Bernardo to skip hearing again

Meanwhile, former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo will not appear before the ICI hearing again this week, still citing medical reasons.

‘He will not be coming because he informed us that he is still sick,’ Hosaka said.

When asked about the specific illness of Bernardo, Hosaka said, ‘Hindi niya nasabi kung ano, but we already asked for a medical certificate.’

Hosaka said the next hearing for Bernardo would be November 11 or 12.

It will be the third time that Bernardo will skip the ICI hearing.

At first, the ICI said the former DPWH undersecretary requested to reset the hearing for October 8 to gather more documents needed for the investigation.

Meanwhile, on October 14, Bernardo asked the commission again to postpone the supposed October 15 hearing due to illness.

Bernardo first attended the ICI hearing on October 1.

The former DPWH undersecretary was summoned before the ICI after he recently testified before the Senate blue ribbon committee that Escudero, as well as former Senators Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. and Nancy Binay, allegedly received kickbacks from allocations for projects of the DPWH.

He also tagged Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, who recently resigned as a member of the House of Representatives, on the anomaly. /jpv

Interment services in public cemeteries and columbarium in Quezon City will take a break from October 30 to November 2, 2025, in preparation for the Undas 2025, the Quezon City (QC) Civil Registry said on Tuesday.

The three public cemeteries in the city are the Bagbag Cemetery, Novaliches Public Cemetery, and Baesa Columbarium.

‘We will suspend interment on October 30 and normal operations will resume on November 3 in e public cemeteries, in Quezon City, in Bagbag, Baesa, and Novaliches,’ QC Civil Registry head Salvador Cariño said in Filipino in a forum organized by QC journalists.

Cariño also said that the Baesa Columbarium and Bagbag Cemetery will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. from October 31 to November 2.

Cariño shared that as of September 2025, there are 104,400 interred bodies in Bagbag Cemetery; 23,053 in Novaliches Cemetery and 216 in Baesa Columbarium.

He noted that from October 27, 2024, to November 3, 2024, a total of 265,000 visitors flocked to Bagbag Cemetery and 59,802 in Novaliches Public Cemetery.

Baesa Columbarium was only opened to the public six months ago. Cariño said that they are expecting around 400,000 visitors this year.

Regarding visitors who have a hard time locating the tombs of their deceased loved ones, Cariño said: ‘We have a designated operations officer who can address their concerns,’

Cariño warned that bringing prohibited items into the cemetery, such as sharp and bladed weapons, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and vapes, and even gambling materials, will not be allowed.

He also encouraged adult visitors to not bring their children to the cemeteries as a precautionary measure amid the flu season.

He added that he will recommend the wearing face masks in the cemetery.

‘Undas’ security

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) chief of District Operations PCol. Vicente Bumalay said that the QCPD will deploy 1,646 police officers, along with force multipliers, in cemeteries, columbaria, and transport terminals to ensure safety and security for Undas 2025.

Bumalay also said that police personnel from stations one to 16 will monitor situations in the different neighborhoods to avoid incidents of theft.

He added that police assistance desks will also be established inside cemeteries to assist visitors.

‘We heightened QCPD’s alert to avoid any untoward incidents,’ Bumalay said. /gsg

Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Tuesday said he is eyeing the involvement of local government units, first-class municipalities, and others in the construction of classrooms following a report that only 22 classrooms have been built this year out of the 1,700 targeted for completion.

These findings were disclosed by Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon during a recent Senate finance committee hearing.

In a chance interview in Malacañang, Angara said he wants to change the system wherein only the Department of Public Works and Highways is given the authority to build Department of Education classrooms.

‘What we want now is to include local government units, the provinces, the cities, and first-class municipalities, maybe even second-class ones that have the capacity to build classrooms,’ said Angara.

‘I think the process will be faster, and maybe with the amount of work the DPWH is already doing, they’ve already had a hard time,’ he added.

The issue of flood control projects might have also contributed to the backlog in classrooms.

‘It seems like they were preoccupied with flood control, it seems like building classrooms has not become a priority.’

Angara also vowed to fulfill President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s promise in his State of the Nation Address to build 40,000 classrooms by 2028. /gsg

Quezon City’s homegrown film festival has announced the complete lineup for its 13th edition, highlighting the city’s continuing role in promoting the country’s cinematic landscape.

With the theme ‘Film City,’ this year’s QCinema International Film Festival will again showcase a wide range of world and local films across nine full-length sections and five shorts programs, which were unveiled during a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Diliman, Quezon City.

The festival, which is set to run from Nov. 13 to 24 in cinemas in Quezon City, operates under the Quezon City Film Development Foundation.

‘Couture’ by French filmmaker Alice Winocour, starring Angelina Jolie, is set to serve as the opening film this year. The film, which follows an American director attending Paris Fashion Week, explores filmmaking through a story within a story.

The festival’s main competitions include Asian Next Wave, RainbowQC, New Horizons and QCShorts International.

Competition Sections

The Asian Next Wave section features emerging voices from Asia, with entries such as:

‘A Useful Ghost by’ Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke (Thailand, France, Singapore, Germany), winner of the Cannes Critics Week Grand Prix;

‘Diamonds in the Sand’ by Janus Victoria (Japan, Malaysia, Philippines);

‘Family Matters’ by Pan Ke-yin (Taiwan);

‘Lost Land’ by Akio Fujimoto (Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany); and

‘Open Endings’ by Nigel Santos (Philippines), winner of Best Ensemble Performance at Cinemalaya.

The RainbowQC competition presents queer-centered narratives including ‘Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingoes’ by Diego Céspedes (Chile), ‘On the Road’ by David Pablos (Mexico) and ‘Skin of Youth’ by Ash Mayfair (Vietnam, Singapore, Japan).

The New Horizons section, which spotlights debut and sophomore works include ‘Amoeba’ by Siyou Tan (Singapore), ‘Chronology of Water’ by Kristen Stewart (USA, France, Latvia) and ‘The President’s Cake’ by Hasan Hadi (Iraq, USA, Qatar).

The QCShorts International section features 21 titles including world premieres of six short films produced under the QCinema 2025 grant program. Among them are ‘Hoy, Hoy, Ingat!’ by Norvin de los Santos, ‘Ours Was a Timeless Night Burning’ by Lauviah Caliboso and ‘RUNO!’ by Racquel ‘Lysa’ Catolico and Jazmine Gin Pateña.

Exhibition Sections

QCinema will also present its Exhibition Sections, which highlight acclaimed titles from the global festival circuit and restored classics.

The Screen International program, meanwhile, includes ‘Couture’ by Winocour, ‘Hamnet’ by Chloé Zhao, ‘Once Upon a Time in Gaza’ by Tarzan and Arab Nasser, and ‘Sirat’ by Oliver Laxe.

The Before Midnight section is expected to feature restored and rediscovered works such as ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ by Morgan Knibbe, ‘Rabbit Trap’ by Bryn Chainey and ‘Ugly Stepsister’ by Emilie Blichfeldt.

The Rediscovery section brings back modern classics including ‘Almost Famous’ by Cameron Crowe starring Kate Hudson, ‘Linda Linda Linda’ by Nobuhiro Yamashita and ‘Showgirls’ by Paul Verhoeven.

QC Selects will also screen locally made films that have gained recognition in other festivals, such as ‘Call My Manager’ by Erik Matti, ‘Human Resource’ by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit and ‘Lakambini: Gregoria de Jesus’ by Arjanmar Rebeta and Jeffrey Jeturian starring Lovi Poe.

Meanwhile, sections that are new to this year’s lineup are Dokyu Days, a documentary-focused showcase, and Focus on: Sandra Hller, a tribute to the acclaimed German actress known for her work in ‘Toni Erdmann’ and ‘The Zone of Interest.’

The 13th QCinema International Film Festival will conclude with the awarding of the Asian Next Wave Best Film, which will also serve as this year’s closing film. /ra

Ensuring transparency in the budget process at the barangay level and exercising vigilance during the implementation stage will help the country to get rid of corruption, House of Representatives Speaker Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy III said on Tuesday.

Dy, in his speech at the Liga ng mga Barangay Congress at the World Trade Center, told local government officials including those from the barangay that they play an important role in pushing for transparency and accountability, as they can check if deadlines and standards are met when projects are implemented.

According to Dy, barangay officials can help in the fight against corruption if they can identify what are the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects in their area – and eventually check if these are up to par.

‘The most important thing here is that no matter how much we get strict and ensure transparency and accountability on our proposed budget, is when these proposed projects get into the implementation stage in our respective areas,’ Dy said in Filipino.

‘That is why your roles and duties will be so important. I am asking you to identify the projects of the Department of Public Works [and Highways] for every district, what are the projects or programs that would arrive for your areas, especially the barangay under your jurisdiction,’ he added.

According to Dy, based on experience at the local government level, vigilance once the national budget is approved will be key to pushing for growth and avoiding losing public funds to corruption.

‘If you do this, you will be able to monitor your projects. And because of this, you can see if the projects are up to the right standards. Know from your districts, from the DPWH, what the program of works is for the projects set aside for your areas,’ he said speaking in Filipino.

‘You will play a great role in removing, stopping, and defeating corruption here in our country,’ he added.

Corruption scandals in the country, particularly regarding the flood control project, has led to calls for greater budget transparency.

For the deliberations of the proposed 2026 national budget, several reforms were initiated by the House – from moves to allow civil society organizations to monitor and participate in discussions, to the removal of the small committee that implements changes in the General Appropriations Bill even after it has been approved on third reading.

Several public officials and companies, however, were also placed at the hot seat due to corruption allegations. In his fourth State of the Nation Address last July 2025, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned government officials and contractors who allegedly benefitted from flood control projects at the expense of the people.

Eventually, Marcos inspected several projects which were then revealed to be either substandard or completely non-existent. Investigations from different bodies – including Congress – followed suit, but several lawmakers were implicated as either having interests in the companies that do flood control projects, or were accused of diverting funds for such purposes.

The flood control scandal eventually reached Congress’ leadership: last September 8, former Senate president Francis Escudero was replaced by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, after after Escudero was criticized for receiving a P30 million campaign donation in 2022 from a contractor whose firm was able to bag a lot of government infrastructure projects.

In the House, Dy was elected Speaker after former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez relinquished the post on September 17, to allow an independent commission to probe his alleged involvement in flood control issues.

Romualdez has not been connected to any of the top companies doing the flood control projects, but he was one of the lawmakers named by contractor-couple Pacifico ‘Curlee’ Discaya and Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Discaya of allegedly receiving kickbacks from the projects. With reports from Halle Danelle Yuson, trainee

One of the sternest tests is up for the PGT field this week in Davao when the ICTSI Apo Golf Classic tees off on Tuesday, and contrary to club players in the metro wanting the rains to ease a bit to dry the courses, Antonio Lascuña is hoping for the opposite.

‘I hope it rains,’ Lascuña told the Inquirer over the phone in Filipino on Monday afternoon, hours after going birdie-less in the Pro-Am of the P3.5 million event because of rock-hard greens that not even him-one of the tree-lined layout’s foremost products-could figure out.

‘If the greens remain the same for the rest of the week, (an) even par (score) will win the event,’ the 54-year-old, a two-time champion at Apo with the last coming in 2023, added. ‘It’s as if I don’t know the course myself. It was super tough to figure out.’

Apo Golf has traditionally been one of the hardest courses in the land to play, with Jonel Ababa, another ex-caddy from Apo, winning with a five-over total last year.

He shares the same view.

‘It will be very hard to go low here,’ Ababa, who lost his wife Mielene to cardiac arrest close to eight months ago, said in a separate phone interview. ‘Balls just refuse to stop on the greens. It will be a battle for survival for four days for all of us.’

Reymon Jaraula, the winner last week at Del Monte with a 24-under total shot in benign conditions, will be seeking to win back-to-back events for the first time in his pro career.

But he won’t have the same local knowledge at Apo, unlike in Bukidnon, where he knew where to miss.

‘Of course, those who grew up playing this course will have some advantage,’ Ababa went on. ‘But we still have to play well.’

‘There are a lot of young, talented players here this week,’ Lascuña said. ‘Local knowledge is an advantage, but like I said, this course is going to play very tough this week. Superb four-round play will still make the difference.’ INQ

The Philippines posted a smaller dollar surplus in September as a wide trade deficit continued to drive outflows, which was offset by the steady stream of funds from other sources like remittances and investments.

Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the country’s balance of payments (BOP) position swung to a surplus of $82 million, significantly lower than August’s windfall of $359 million.

The BOP, which tracks all foreign exchange inflows and outflows, has been mostly negative this year. That said, September still marked one of the months when dollar inflows outpaced outflows.

Investments

‘The BOP surplus reflected the Bangko Sentral’s net income from its investments abroad and the national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the BSP,’ the central bank said.

Robert Dan Roces, chief economist at SM Investments, said the dollar outflows from the country’s large import bill resulted in a smaller BOP surplus during the month.

‘The smaller BOP surplus reflects fewer one-off inflows and a still-wide trade gap, but the external position remains manageable with steady remittances, strong services exports, and solid reserves,’ Roces said.

Global rates

‘As global rates ease and regional demand recovers, investment inflows may return and support liquidity and credit conditions, which should help firms with deep local roots and diverse sources of growth,’ he added.

Even so, BSP data showed the windfall in September helped trim the nine-month BOP deficit to $5.32 billion, still below the $6.9 billion shortfall projected by the central bank for 2025.

The year-to-date BOP had stayed in deficit largely due to the country’s continued trade imbalance, the BSP explained. State statisticians have yet to release September trade figures, but data through August showed a gap of $32.4 billion-down 5.5 percent from a year earlier.

The central bank said the drag from a wide trade shortfall was partly offset by remittances from overseas workers and foreign borrowings by the national government. It also cited steady inflows from foreign direct investments, portfolio funds in the local capital market and earnings from the business process outsourcing sector.

GIR

The BOP surplus last month, in turn, shored up the country’s external defenses. The central bank said gross international reserves (GIR) climbed to $109.1 billion at the end of the month, from $107.1 billion in August.

These reserves – made up of foreign securities, currencies, and gold – serve as a critical buffer. They allow the Philippines to cover imports and service foreign debt, while helping steady the peso and cushion the economy against external shocks.