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The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) said all airports under its jurisdiction remain in normal operation following the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that jolted the waters off Davao Oriental on Friday morning.

This tremor killed an individual.

In a statement this Friday afternoon, Caap said that based on their initial assessments, ‘no major damage’ was seen to airport facilities across the country.

Meanwhile, the aviation authority said minor cracks were observed in the logistics building of Dipolog Airport in Zamboanga del Norte.

Caap said it is currently conducting an inspection ‘to ensure structural integrity and passenger safety.’

Following the quake, two commercial flights bound for Davao were also diverted. These flights are the following:

GAP2813 (Manila-Davao) – diverted to Mactan-Cebu International Airport

CEB963 (Manila-Davao) – diverted to General Santos International Airport

According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck waters off the coast of Manay, Davao Oriental at 9:43 a.m. this Friday.

It was earlier reported as magnitude 7.6.

One individual reportedly died, while more than 12,000 schools across Mindanao and parts of the Visayas were affected by the quake. /apl

The Philippines is poised to have a citizenry of mostly working-age individuals and elderly persons in the coming years as a result of the ‘significant’ decline in the country’s population growth rate, the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 10th National Population, Health, and Education Conference, CPD Deputy Executive Director Lolito Tacardon noted that the increasing number of working-age individuals poses both an opportunity and a challenge to the government.

‘If the government would be able to optimize them, they can positively contribute to economic development. But if the government fails to provide them with the necessary jobs or economic opportunities, then they will rely on the resources of the government,’ Tacardon said.

Urban migration

He admitted, however, that an aging population would pose more of a challenge given how the government is ‘still in the process of implementing, for example, universal health care.’

Another concern is that many young individuals remain unemployed, with Tacardon noting that ‘one of the problems is that job opportunities do not match the education that they have, and they are not prepared yet.’

‘What we’re asking for is human capital development, but at the same time, it should be coupled with economic intervention, which is creating more jobs, creating more economic opportunities,’ he said. ‘This can’t be addressed by one agency. All of them need to work together.’

Based on the 2024 census by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country’s population grew by 0.8 percent yearly from 2020 to 2024, much lower than the 1.6-percent annual increase recorded from 2015 to 2020.

The PSA projected that as early as 2030, some 7 percent of Filipinos will be 65 years old and above. At such a percentage, the country would be crossing the threshold and be classified as an ‘aging population.’

During the 2020 census, the PSA noted that people 65 years and over accounted for 5.4 percent of the total population.

By 2050, Tacardon said the trend may reach its ‘peak,’ with about 12 percent of Filipinos aged 65 years and older.

‘The most significant factor related to fertility decline is the improvement of the socioeconomic condition of women in the Philippines,’ he explained, citing findings from a survey by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

‘As they improve their education, their income, there’s a tendency for them to prefer a smaller number of children and delay their fertility, and that’s happening among young people,’ Tacardon said. ‘Because they want to pursue their personal goals.’

Tacardon also pointed out that 16 out of the 18 regions in the Philippines experienced a decline in population growth rate, with the Bicol region posting a negative population growth.

Global trend

Such a decline, he noted, was caused by people migrating from rural areas to highly urbanized cities.

‘Based on our initial analysis, we found that it’s really being driven by internal migration,’ Tacardon said. ‘Our population movement is shifting now. In the past, people preferred long-distance migration. Nowadays, it’s shorter-distance migration that they prefer.’

He said Region V (Bicol) is an out-migration area, and the recipient of the population is the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) area.

This kind of migration leads to a disproportionate increase in the population of urban areas, with four out of 10 Filipinos living in the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, and Central Luzon, according to the PSA.

‘We can see that our urban areas are really vulnerable because of the lack of efficient mechanisms to ensure that its carrying capacity is really responsive in promoting the quality of life of Filipinos,’ Tacardon noted.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), people worldwide are living longer and ‘every country in the world is experiencing growth in both the size and the proportion of older persons in the population.’

By 2030, it is said that one in six people in the world will be aged 60 years or over, and the share of the population aged 60 years and over will increase from a billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion.

It added that by 2050, the world’s population of people aged 60 years and older will double to 2.1 billion, and the number of persons aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050 to reach 426 million.

‘While this shift in distribution of a country’s population towards older ages-known as population aging-started in high-income countries (for example, in Japan, 30 percent of the population is already over 60 years old), it is now low- and middle-income countries that are experiencing the greatest change. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population over 60 years will live in low- and middle-income countries,’ the agency said. /cb

A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck off the coast of Davao Oriental on Friday morning was felt across several provinces in Western Visayas, prompting precautionary measures in Iloilo City and nearby areas.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said that the quake occurred at 9:43 a.m. at a depth of 10 kilometers, with its epicenter located about 62 km southeast of Manay, Davao Oriental (07.09° N, 127.09° E). Although the tremor’s origin was in Mindanao, its strong ground motion rippled across the Visayas, including Iloilo, Antique, Capiz, and Negros Occidental.

In Iloilo City, Mayor Raisa Treñas ordered the immediate suspension of classes at all levels-both public and private schools-to ensure the safety of students and school personnel. The Office of the Building Official, City Engineer’s Office, and Facility Conservation Office (FCO) also began structural inspections of City Hall and other government facilities before allowing employees and clients to enter.

Residents across the city reported feeling the quake, with some offices and schools temporarily evacuating as a precaution. As of Friday afternoon, no reports of major structural damage or injuries had been recorded in Iloilo City or the rest of the province, according to the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

Provincial authorities likewise heightened monitoring of public infrastructure. The Iloilo Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said that it was coordinating with local governments to verify the quake’s effects in municipalities and to remind residents to remain vigilant. Western Visayas, though not among the country’s most active seismic zones, has experienced destructive earthquakes in the past. In 1990, a magnitude 7.1 temblor jolted Panay Island, causing widespread damage across Iloilo and Antique. Disaster experts continue to warn that the region’s aging infrastructure remains vulnerable to strong ground motion despite infrequent earthquakes.

The Department of Public Works and Highways-Western Visayas field offices were also directed to assess key bridges and roads, while the Department of Education-Region VI urged school heads to conduct building safety checks before resuming face-to-face classes.

Phivolcs said that it had not issued a tsunami warning but advised coastal communities to stay alert for possible aftershocks. The agency’s seismologists are continuing to monitor the situation.

Local officials urged residents to avoid reentering damaged structures until engineers cleared them, to report visible cracks in homes and buildings, and to follow only verified updates from government channels./coa

The House of Representatives has voted to slash the Office of the Vice President’s P889-million budget for 2026 by P156 million, making good on a promise to exact consequences for Vice President Sara Duterte’s repeated refusal to answer for her budget.

On Friday, Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima moved to bring back the OVP budget to its 2025 level at P733 million during the second reading for House Bill No. 4058, the chamber’s version of the national budget bill.

This after Duterte repeatedly snubbed the plenary deliberations for her office’s budget, even imposing conditions on the House if the chamber wanted her to personally defend her proposal.

‘The vice president’s repeated refusal to face this chamber is an insult and spits on the duty of accountability,’ De Lima said. ‘It’s as if we’re parents of a child throwing a tantrum while refusing to explain where they spent their allowance.’

‘Public money is not a toy. It is not a reward given to invented people with invented names in invented projects. It is a trust. And until the vice president learns respect, this House must act as the parent that disciplines a brat,’ she added.

House appropriations chair and Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing accepted the amendment while insisting that the current budget would still protect the interests of the OVP staff – referring to earlier, more radical proposals from the Makabayan bloc to reduce the OVP budget to only the barest minimum.

This is the second year in a row that the House moved to slash the OVP budget ever since she broke ties with President Marcos Jr.

In a better time, such as the start of the Marcos administration, she could propose a much higher budget-like the P2.3 billion she got in 2023.

But last year, the vice president was left with her current budget of P733 million after former House appropriations chair Elizaldy Co-who would soon be embroiled in the corruption scandal over flood-control projects-slashed the OVP’s budget by more than P1 billion for her refusal to explain how she spent her office’s confidential funds in 2022 and 2023. /apl

Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III denounced Friday what he described as concerted efforts and propaganda by certain quarters aimed at discrediting him and the Senate leadership.

Addressing his colleagues on the Senate floor, Sotto cited the ‘numerous and coordinated circulation of fake news’ regarding new tax measures he was falsely credited with endorsing.

‘In my 24 years in the Senate, I have never proposed any additional tax measures. In fact, I have consistently voted against them,’ he said.

‘So to the peddlers of fake news, I’ll just pray for you,’ Sotto added as he urged Filipinos not to believe quickly, ‘especially when the news is bad.’

In an interview after the session, Sotto said there appeared to be a concerted effort to discredit him and the Senate-one they began noticing on September 8.

‘Because we noticed that since September 8, every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, fake news comes out against me, Sen. Lacson, and Sen. Zubiri,’ he said, referring to Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson and Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri.

‘Then on Monday, there’s supposedly a coup-every weekend. So, is this staged?’ Sotto said. ‘I think there’s a concerted effort by some quarters. I don’t know who, but we’ll try to find out.’

Why would they be targeted?

Sotto suggested that their critics may have found no credible grounds against them-so they resorted to spreading fake news.

He reiterated that he had not filed any tax measures and could not recall any colleague who might have introduced new tax proposals.

‘As a matter of fact, if I were to file, I’d push for a tax deduction,’ the Senate chief said.

A social media post, for example, falsely claims that Sotto is pushing for a 50 percent tax on the income of content creators. /mcm/abc

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has lifted its tsunami warning, signaling to affected communities along the country’s eastern seaboard facing the Pacific Ocean that it is now safe to go home.

Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Phivolcs, announced the advisory during the press conference at the Phivolcs Auditorium following the 7.4 magnitude quake that struck the town of Manay, Davao Oriental, and was strongly felt in most parts of Mindanao at 9:43 a.m. Friday.

Affected by the tsunami warning were the coastlines of the provinces of Davao Oriental, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Eastern Samar.

According to Phivolcs, its sea level monitoring station for tsunami detection in Tandag, Surigao del Sur, has recorded a tsunami wave height of around 30 centimeters at 10:30 a.m.

‘With this, any effects due to the tsunami warning have largely passed and therefore, DOST-Phivolcs has now canceled all tsunami warnings issued for this event,’ the advisory said, referring to the 7.4 magnitude quake.

As of 1:50 p.m., a total of 240 aftershocks have been recorded.

Phivolcs reiterated its oft-repeated statement that earthquakes could ‘not kill, it’s the falling buildings that kill,’ to renew its reminders to local government units across the country to follow the gold standard of the country’s Building Code in constructing buildings to prevent loss of lives during quakes./coa