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President Marcos has ordered government agencies to provide 24/7 assistance to those affected by Friday’s powerful earthquakes in Davao Oriental.

Cabinet officials, including Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, Education Secretary Sonny Angara, Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon and Mindanao Development Authority Chairman Leo Magno yesterday visited Manay, Davao Oriental, the epicenter of the magnitude 7.4 and 6.8 earthquakes.

‘The President’s paramount concern is the safety and well-being of our people in the earthquake-struck areas,’ Presidential Communications Secretary Dave Gomez said in a statement yesterday.

The Cabinet officials checked on the condition and needs of patients at the Manay District Hospital, which sustained damage from the strong quakes.

They also attended an inter-agency meeting at the Kanato Hall, Subagan Tourism Complex in Mati City to fast-track response and rehabilitation efforts.

Gatchalian assured Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang that the DSWD has more than enough food and non-food items to sustain the province’s ongoing disaster response and will continue to augment supplies as needed.

He said the DSWD has already distributed 1,552 boxes of family food packs, 606 ready-to-eat food boxes and 969 non-food items, amounting to more than P3.74 million in total assistance to Davaoenos affected by the twin quakes.

Gatchalian also directed the setting up of enclosed family tents at the Manay District Hospital to serve as safer and more comfortable temporary shelters for patients and hospital staff.

Beyond immediate relief, Gatchalian said the DSWD’s standard operating procedures are also in place to extend financial assistance to the injured, cover medical bills, provide burial aid and support families who lost their loved ones.

Gatchalian said once the response phase concludes, the DSWD will roll out cash assistance for families with partially or totally damaged homes as part of the recovery and rebuilding phase.

Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte visited Davao Oriental to provide assistance to the victims of the magnitude 7.4 earthquake.

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) also announced yesterday that its Red Cross Medical Tent is now up and operational at the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center.

‘A 10-bed emergency room complex was deployed to cater to incoming patients. The facility is now serving seven individuals in need of urgent care,’ the PRC said in a statement.

To reinforce hospital operations, PRC chairman Richard Gordon mobilized six Red Cross volunteers to support medical staff, alongside a welfare desk to assist patients and their families.

The PRC said its humanitarian caravan response in Davao Region is also serving hot meals and clean water to families affected by the temblor.

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora has joined the Mayors for Good Governance (M4GG) and commits to uphold transparency and accountability in public service while assuring that his city remains free of ‘ghost projects.’

In a statement, Zamora thanked Mayors Mayor Joy Belmonte of Quezon City Vico Sotto of Pasig, Benjamin Magalong of Baguio, Sitti Hataman of Lamitan and other M4GG members for welcoming him into the organization.

‘You can count on my support as a member of M4GG and expect transparent and efficient governance here,’ Zamora said in Filipino. ‘There are no ghost projects in San Juan and we ensure that all funds from both the national and local governments reach our constituents.’

Zamora, who serves as president of the Metro Manila Council and national president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, was among 74 newly inducted M4GG mayors.

According to the M4GG, the new members reflect ‘a strong commitment to integrity and accountability.’

The group emphasized that the fight against corruption requires daily adherence to the principles of good governance.

M4GG is an alliance of local chief executives promoting integrity as well as anti-corruption and reform-oriented leadership.

One will find it difficult to believe the gravity of it all. But here we are, waking up every day to this ugly reality. Just the other day, Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon announced that government agencies have uncovered 421 new ghost projects out of 8,000 sites investigated.

Detailed blueprints were signed, contracts were forged and monitoring teams gave the green light. Yet, in the end, these projects never happened. These aren’t just criminal acts but billions in hard-earned taxpayer money lost to corruption.

Obviously, Satan went on overdrive here in our nation of 115 million.

Sec. Dizon said the 421 ghost projects are only the initial findings, as there are around 100,000 projects that still need to be validated nationwide.

The people of Masbate are hoping authorities would visit their province too, because they say it is also plagued with ghost and substandard infrastructure projects.

Masbate, population 910,000, is an island province in the Philippines about 370 kilometers from Manila.

The province, say geologists, sits on a ‘pot of gold’ with its rich natural resources. It’s been called an Eden off the tourist trail with its powdery white sand beaches and turquoise waters.

And yet, Masbate is consistently listed among the top 10 poorest provinces in the Philippines.

The DPWH, together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Department of National Defense and the Department of Economic Planning and Development, has been auditing the country’s flood control projects.

They should include Masbate in their audit – and not just the flood control projects.

I got hold of a copy of an Aug. 2, 2025 judicial narrative submitted by journalists Arnel Bello, Edarlito Doremon Jr. and Benjamin Gigante, members of the Masbate Quad Media Society (MQMS) Inc., detailing alleged ghost projects in different districts in the province.

The MQMS, an independent group of journalists, conducted a 2022 fact-finding mission, including physical visits to project sites. They ‘gathered photographic, testimonial and on-ground evidence pointing to possible malversation, fraud and administrative misconduct.’

As a result, they filed various cases with the Office of the Ombudsman against local officials led by then provincial governor Antonio Kho, now a representative of Masbate.

The list of alleged ghost projects they documented is long. Due to space constraints, I will print only the first 10 on the list:

Five ghost projects amounting to P234.6 million (complaint filed on Jan. 5, 2023)

Five ghost projects amounting to P127.7 million (complaint filed on Jan. 5, 2023)

Twenty-three ghost projects amounting to P198 million (complaint filed on Jan. 5, 2023)

Ghost rehabilitation of Bayombon-Ubo Road Project amounting to P19.9 million (complaint filed on Oct. 18, 2023)

Ghost rehabilitation of Igang-Gutusan-Igang Rawis Road in Barangay Igang, Masbate City amounting to P8.96 million (complaint filed on Oct. 18, 2023)

Ghost rehabilitation of Calabad-Rizal Road, Barangay Calabad, Dimasalang, Masbate amounting to P19.9 million (complaint filed on Oct. 18, 2023)

Canahig-Polot Road in Barangay Polot, Mobo, Masbate amounting to P19.84 million (complaint filed on Oct. 18, 2023)

Ghost rehabilitation of Cagay-Guintorelan Road, Mobo, Masbate amounting to P6.98 million (complaint filed on Oct. 18, 2023)

Ghost rehabilitation of Sitio San Vicente Road, Milagros, Masbate amounting to P19.97 million (complaint filed on Dec. 22, 2023)

Ghost rehabilitation/regraveling of Barangay Real to Barangay Famosa Road, Monreal, Masbate amounting to P9.98 million (complaint filed on Dec. 22, 2023)

Furthermore, some of these ghost projects were awarded to a single, newly set-up contractor. The bidding dates and starting dates were all the same.

The complainants have since faced counter-charges and other forms of harassment, they said in their judicial narrative.

But as I said, this list is not even complete. It’s now up to Sec. Dizon to look into this.

Notorious for corruption

Stories of corruption in Masbate are nothing new. These have been reported by local newspapers and national newspapers.

Last year, The STAR reported that Doremon and Gigante filed a complaint against Kho and other officials for awarding contracts for three road rehabilitation projects worth P99.8 million in 2022.

There were other complaints filed against Kho and other officials, such as one involving alleged anomalous road projects worth over P234.6 million, but these were dismissed.

Interestingly, Kho himself, now a lawmaker, has spoken out against ghost projects, according to reports quoting him.

During a House investigation into flood control projects last August, the Masbate lawmaker raised concerns about the possibility of ghost projects among the 9,956 projects nationwide implemented as of July 2022.

He stressed the need for a comprehensive review to determine the extent of any irregularities and emphasized his commitment to finding solutions to the persistent problem of flooding.

If this is the case, then Masbate shouldn’t have ghost projects.

Only a full independent audit by the DPWH, together with the government team looking into flood control projects, can determine this.

With the Marcos administration stepping up its campaign against corruption in public works, it would be good to look into this province long notorious for poverty and graft.

This is also a challenge to newly appointed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla. He must look into the different cases pending before the ombudsman related to ghost projects in Masbate or corruption in general.

As we’re seeing now, whether it’s Manila or Masbate, corruption in flood control projects exists and the ghosts will continue to haunt us until authorities finally bring the perpetrators to justice.

The government official was in a Lexus LX570 luxury sport utility vehicle. Definitely, it was not a government vehicle, but it had its blinkers on.

It sported a ’10’ protocol plate – a number assigned to justices of the Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals and the Sandiganbayan as well as the solicitor general, according to guidelines set by the Land Transportation Office. But the passenger of the Lexus does not fall under any of these categories.

He’s nevertheless a ‘VIP’ deserving of road courtesy. This was according to his barong-clad security escort, who reportedly slapped the driver of an Isuzu multicab who dared get in the way of the luxury SUV last Wednesday morning in Quezon City.

The official with a driver and a bodyguard is Undersecretary Ricky Alfonso of the Department of Transportation and Communications, which has jurisdiction over the LTO, so he presumably knows the rules on the use of protocol plates. The vehicle is reportedly registered to a holding company in Dasmariñas, Makati.

Netizens were angered by a viral video showing Alfonso’s driver and bodyguard berating the multicab driver, who was demanding to know why he had been slapped. That’s a case of physical injury. But traffic enforcers of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority who responded to the incident merely advised him to get a medical certificate and file a formal complaint. Why did none of them try to question the passenger in a Lexus, or even get the identities of the driver and bodyguard? Are MMDA personnel cowed by the ‘VIP’ tag?

Alfonso’s bodyguard chastised the multicab driver for weaving in and out of traffic, ignoring the blinker in the Lexus and endangering its ‘VIP’ passenger. ‘VIP yung dala namin, naka-blinker na kami,’ the bodyguard told the driver. ‘Malilintikan ka talaga.’

President Marcos issued Administrative Order No. 18 in April last year, prohibiting government officials from using sirens, blinkers and similar signaling devices. Alfonso was either clueless about this or ignored it. And why does an undersecretary deserve a security escort? Is that bodyguard on the public payroll? Surely a person who tools around in a Lexus can afford his own security escort.

Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said he had talked with Alfonso, who claimed to have fired his driver and apologized to the multicab driver. But this case is not supposed to be settled with a mere apology. And that VIP entitlement is out of place in this period of great public outrage over the atrocious misbehavior of government officials.

There are multiple violations in this incident, which should be dealt with accordingly. There must be no VIPs before the law.

Expect chants protesting against corruption to continue on in basketball and football games played by University of the Philippines.

The UP Varsity Pep Drummers will continue with protest chants against corrupt individuals in their games, head coach Herbie Villafranca said.

During the Fighting Maroons’ game with the Ateneo Blue Eagles last week, the pep squad chanted ‘Ikulong na yan, mga kurakot!’ during their halftime performance. The audience also chanted.

The Ateneo Blue Battle Battalion also wore shirts reading ‘Kurakot Ikulong’.

In a statement, Villafranca said that the VPD first chanted the call with the UP community during the ‘Black Friday’ protests at the UP Diliman on September 12, in the wake of issues of government corruption.

‘That was nearly a month ago, and since then, we’ve heard the chant echo through mobilizations, concerts, and mass gatherings. People are angry, and they have every right to be. More importantly, people must not forget,’ he said in a statement.

‘Given how warm the reception was (during UP-Ateneo), we intend to continue doing the chant regularly at basketball and football games to remind the public that no one has been jailed yet. We also hope to expand this effort to other sports in the future,’ he added.

Villafrance also encouraged other universities ‘to join us in chanting and pushing for the corrupt to be jailed and justice to be delivered.’

Allegations of corruption have risen the past few months for alleged ghost and anomalous flood projects across the Philippines.

The chants are expected to be heard as the Maroons will take on the Far Eastern University Tamaraws on Sunday, 4:30 p.m., at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

In today’s higher education landscape, the obsession with standards, metrics and targets has become an unquestioned norm. Accreditation agencies, ranking systems and government-mandated indicators dictate the rhythms of academic life.

Faculty and administrators chase numbers such as publications, citations, completion rates, grants and partnerships on the assumption that these equate to excellence. Yet behind the glossy annual reports and compliance checklists, higher education institutions risk losing their soul. They appear dynamic on paper but stagnant in practice, reproducing the very inequalities they claim to dismantle.

This culture of compliance is not accidental but structural. It reflects a neoliberal logic that reduces education to measurable outputs, as though intellectual inquiry and social responsibility can be quantified like factory production.

Compliance regimes impose rigid frameworks that flatten diverse institutional contexts, producing homogenized universities where the creation of distinct identities is discouraged. Whether a university is urban or rural, globally oriented or locally rooted, all are judged against the same uniform criteria. In such a system, innovation is not rewarded; conformity is.

One of the most serious consequences of compliance culture is the reduction of complex educational goals into simplistic indicators. Accreditation and quality assurance processes ask how many papers have been published, how many patents filed, or how many partnerships signed. These questions rarely probe deeper: Do these outputs matter to society? Do they address inequities or transform communities?

When institutions chase metrics, innovation suffers. Faculty are discouraged from pursuing interdisciplinary or community-oriented work because it may not yield ‘publishable’ outputs in high-impact journals. They learn to play safe, producing formulaic studies that check boxes but lack depth. Students, too, are molded into compliant performers, trained to memorize for standardized tests rather than to think critically or question assumptions. The result is an education system that rewards efficiency but punishes creativity.

Compliance culture also widens inequality. Well-resourced universities with strong administrative machinery can easily meet accreditation requirements and climb rankings. Smaller or rural institutions, by contrast, struggle to cope with bureaucratic demands that divert scarce resources away from faculty development, student support, or community engagement.

In contexts like the Philippines, where resource disparities are stark, compliance becomes an additional burden for those already marginalized. Urban universities accumulate citations and visibility, while provincial colleges, often serving the most underserved populations, are penalized for failing to meet standards designed for privileged institutions.

Instead of leveling the field, compliance deepens the divide, creating a two-tier system of elite universities that thrive on metrics and struggling colleges left behind. The tragedy is that those closest to marginalized communities are least empowered to serve them, trapped in endless cycles of paperwork and performance audits.

The rhetoric of ‘world-class’ education further entrenches this problem. Institutions proudly market global competitiveness, touting rankings, international linkages and foreign faculty hires as markers of prestige.

Yet this pursuit often disconnects them from their local responsibilities. Universities pour resources into meeting global benchmarks while neglecting the needs of nearby communities. Faculty are rewarded for publishing in Western-indexed journals but not for engaging in public scholarship or collaborative work with communities.

Even acts of service are bureaucratized. Faculty are expected to secure memoranda of agreement before extending help, and without such documents their contributions are unrecognized. The cumbersome process discourages genuine engagement.

Ironically, in trying to formalize accountability, institutions end up stifling compassion and initiative. The marginalized remain invisible, their needs sidelined by the imperatives of rankings and reputation. Higher education becomes less a vehicle of social transformation than a machinery for institutional branding.

Defenders of compliance argue that metrics ensure accountability, that without standards, universities would become complacent. But there is a profound difference between accountability and bureaucracy.

True accountability builds trust and growth, while bureaucracy breeds fear and fatigue. Quality assurance mechanisms should function as developmental tools, not punitive instruments. Instead, faculty now spend disproportionate time documenting their worth, assembling teaching portfolios, compiling research outputs, and filling out forms.

The labor of proving productivity often outweighs the labor of actual teaching and scholarship. Students, too, are burdened with rigid requirements that measure conformity more than creativity. Rather than fostering excellence, this system breeds cynicism and burnout. The irony is painful: an education system that prides itself on innovation has institutionalized mediocrity through paperwork. The more an institution documents its excellence, the less time it has to practice it.

The winners in this compliance-driven ecosystem are not students, not communities, and certainly not most faculty. They are regulatory agencies, accrediting bodies and ranking organizations whose authority depends on perpetual institutional dependence.

Globally, Western publishing houses and ranking institutions profit from universities desperate to prove their ‘world-class’ credentials. Locally, bureaucrats consolidate power as gatekeepers of compliance. This dynamic exposes the political economy of higher education.

Compliance is not just a technical process; it is a system of control. It reproduces global hierarchies where the standards of excellence are defined by those already in power. Marginalized institutions and scholars have little say in shaping these standards. Their exclusion is not an accident, it is the very mechanism through which compliance culture maintains order.

Escaping this tyranny requires reclaiming the purpose of education. Higher education must move beyond the narrow logic of performance metrics toward a vision rooted in equity, creativity and social transformation.

Evaluation systems should reward diversity of outputs and recognize contributions that matter locally as well as globally. Community engagement, participatory research and public scholarship must be valued alongside publication counts.

Redefining excellence means rejecting the shallow pursuit of ‘world-class’ status and instead addressing world-class problems such as climate change, inequality, digital exclusion and social injustice. Universities that tackle these through interdisciplinary collaboration and inclusive pedagogy are truly excellent, even if they score low on conventional metrics. This shift also requires amplifying marginalized voices in academia.

Compliance culture silences them; transformative education must empower them. Investment in underfunded institutions, recognition of nontraditional scholarship and democratization of access are crucial. The key question should no longer be whether universities meet targets, but whether they change lives.

Compliance culture endures because it offers the illusion of progress. Numbers, rankings and certifications provide a comforting narrative of success. But beneath the surface lies a hollow core, an education system obsessed with ticking boxes while neglecting its moral and social mission.

Unless higher education confronts this tyranny, it will remain a factory of credentials rather than a crucible of change. True accountability lies not in hitting targets but in answering to society. True excellence demands courage, the courage to innovate, disrupt, and serve those left behind even without bureaucratic validation.

Universities must reclaim their autonomy to think, imagine, and act beyond the confines of compliance. Only then can they fulfill their promise as spaces of emancipation where knowledge is not merely produced but lived, shared, and used to transform the world.

The Department of Energy is pushing back the green energy auction (GEA) for waste-to-energy (WTE) and biomass technologies to next year as it gears up to launch a special bid round in January.

The DOE has shifted its plans for a WTE auction originally targeted for this year, opting instead to prioritize a special GEA round for projects that will source waste feedstock from Metro Manila and other highly urbanized cities (HUC).

The special auction round is scheduled for January 2026, with completion slated for the fourth quarter of 2027.

The DOE intends to issue the notice of auction and terms of reference as early as this month to give interested parties sufficient time to comply with the GEA registration requirements.

A WTE technology refers to a system that converts biodegradable materials such as animal manure or agricultural waste into usable energy through anaerobic digestion, fermentation and gasification, among others.

According to the National Solid Waste Management Commission, Metro Manila and HUCs generated around 6.12 million metric tons of municipal solid waste in 2024. This is equivalent to 335 megawatts of baseload power supply.

As an emerging clean energy technology, WTE is expected to boost power supply while also helping the government address the country’s perennial flooding problem.

Aside from the special auction, the DOE also plans to conduct another GEA round in the second quarter of 2026, covering biomass and WTE projects across the country.

‘The integration of WTE projects into the GEA framework underscores the DOE’s commitment to ensuring energy security, environmental protection and private sector participation in the country’s transition to clean and sustainable energy,’ it said.

Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the country aims to scale up the share of renewables in the power mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040 from the current 22 percent.

Earlier, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the DOE was pushing for the passage of the bill seeking to further institutionalize the use of WTE technologies.

Through this measure, the DOE wants to attract more investments in WTE projects.

ZUS Coffee unleashed its own ‘Kraken’ in Anna DeBeer as it smashed Chery Tiggo, 25-15, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23, yesterday to jumpstart its ambitious bid in the PVL Reinforced Conference at the City of Dasmariñas Arena.

DeBeer searched and destroyed everyone in her path for a devastating 37-point performance laced with 35 kills as the Thunderbelles nailed the victory they hoped would launch a thousand ships.

The ‘Kraken’ is the moniker being used by June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer, the nine-time MVP in the PBA.

It was a spectacular effort for the 24-year-old Kentucky native, fresh from her memorable stint with Louisville in the US NCAA Division I, as she almost single-handedly carried ZUS through.

So impressive was DeBeer that she came a point shy from matching the season-high 38 hits scored by Farm Fresh’s Helene Rousseaux in a 22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21 win over Nxled last Thursday also in Dasmariñas.

‘For the first game, I really had no expectations coming here. But it was just incredible,’ said DeBeer, one, if not the smallest, among the current crop of imports, and on her first overseas stint.

With the signing of the Expanded Philippine Science High School (PSHS) System Act into law, qualified students will no longer be denied quality education in the country, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian vowed.

Gatchalian cited a Second Congressional Commission on Education report that said at least 5,807 qualified students were unable to enroll at the 16 PSHS campuses nationwide, noting that the schools have limited slots.

President Marcos signed Republic Act 12310, or the Expanded PSHS System Act, into law last week, paving the way for more campuses to rise in various parts of the country.

Under the law, additional campuses will be established to offer Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics or STEM education in line with the government’s efforts to produce more Filipino scientists and innovators.

Gatchalian, who co-authored the measure, said the law aims to expand access to premier science and mathematics education nationwide, allowing more talented youth to experience world-class STEM learning and to be part of a community that nurtures curiosity, creativity and scientific leadership.

As the NBA returned to China for the first time in six years, it was a spectacle to behold.

Thousands of fans from across the world flocked into the Venetian Arena here to watch the NBA China Games, the league’s first in the country since 2019.

As the excitement brewed for the basketball-crazed nation, where an estimated 125 million people play basketball, it spilled from out the court to across the town.

Aside from inflated basketballs and signages about the NBA Macau Games, thousands of fans clad in various NBA jerseys – from Devin Booker to Cam Thomas to Michael Jordan – and NBA apparel also made their way across streets.

It cultivated on Friday, where 11,317 roaring fans watched the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns trade haymakers in a preseason game, where the Suns grabbed the 132-127 overtime victory.

There, celebrities such as Jackie Chan and David Beckham, as well as basketball icons Jeremy Lin, Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming, Dwyane Wade and Vince Carter, among others, were in attendance.

On Saturday afternoon, fans were treated to a fun spectacle during the NBA Fan Day.

The fan event kicked off with dazzling performances, followed by a skills challenge, won by Dillon Brooks-led Team Phoenix, as well as a 3-point challenge that was won by Team Suns, led by Grayson Allen and Isaiah Livers.

These were followed by a halfcourt challenge, where both teams tried to make more shots from the halfcourt line.

The main event of the night was a slam dunk competition, where local dunkers faced off against professional slammers.

Judges Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion, O’Neal, Lin and MC Jin said before the contest started that ‘perfect 10’ dunks were about ‘creativity,’ ‘power,’ ‘if they can make it in the first attempt,’ ‘something that we have not seen before’ and ‘if it can make me run around like crazy.’

Dunkers Chen Dengxing, Wan Lei, Jonathan Edwards and Tyler Currie surely brought these with them, as they garnered oohs and aahs from the crowd with their gravity-defying, thunderous and powerful jams.

At the end of the night, Currie, who jumped over Marion and finished emphatically, garnering a perfect 50 from the judges.

The crowd was then treated to a performance by Chinese boy band Mirror, much to the delight of the fans.

Seeing thousands of people cheer for a sport was indeed a sight to behold, as collective applause united the fans, regardless of nationality, speaking language and political inclinations, even for a few hours.

An ‘NBA House’ was also launched in time for the Macau Games, where fans could enter free of charge and experience several basketball-related activities.

Here, fans could get a ‘passport’ and get stamps from every activity they take part in, including booths from NBA 2K, the Replay Center and an LED court.

The new NBA Store was also launched at the Londoner, where fans could not only buy apparel but also customize jerseys and shirts. There is also a half-court in the store where fans could do skills challenges.

This year’s China Games will be capped off on Sunday evening, where the Suns and Nets take on each other once again.

Of course, the trip was made easier with finance super app Gcash.

GCash, an all-in-one app for shopping, paying bills and sending money operated by Globe, could be used even abroad. It could be used to buy food, from outside restaurants to arena concession stands, as well as NBA Store merchandise.

However, there were some stores that could not read the QR code that was generated from the GCash app, so make sure to look for Alipay and GCash logos posted outside shops.