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GCash’s in-app stock trading platform GStocks now serves more than 2 million users, accounting for the majority of all online retail stock market accounts with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The platform, which operates through broker AB Capital Securities Inc., is available through GInvest, the investment hub of the finance super app. GInvest also offers other services such as GFunds and GBonds.

GStocks’ user base makes up a large share of the 3.22 million online retail accounts recorded by the PSE in 2025.

According to the PSE’s 2025 Stock Market Investor Profile report, total stock market accounts rose 27.3 percent to 3.64 million last year from 2.86 million in 2024.

Retail investors held 99.2 percent, or 3.61 million, of these accounts. Of the retail accounts, 3.22 million were held online through digital trading platforms and e-wallets. Online retail accounts grew 30.5 percent year-on-year.

GCash said its paperless registration and streamlined onboarding allow Filipinos to invest directly through the app, bringing more retail investors into the local capital markets.

‘By improving digital access to investing, an area that was once traditionally reserved for the privileged few, we are helping create pathways for more Filipinos to build a more secure financial future,’ said Winsley Bangit, group head of New Businesses at Mynt Inc., the parent company of GCash.

Alongside market research and beginner-friendly guidance within GStocks PH, GCash has launched Pera Coach, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool that gives users on-demand access to educational tips and investment information.

‘Beyond making access to investing more convenient, we’re doubling down on our financial literacy efforts to help Filipinos better understand and use the tools we provide,’ Bangit said.

THE Department of Energy (DOE) believes that the decline in world market oil prices will be sustained through Friday, paving the way for a price rollback next week.

‘In the past three trading days, the decline was almost $17 for diesel. This Monday, our estimate is around P8 per liter rollback if this will continue up to Friday,’ said Director Rino Abad of the DOE’s Oil Management Bureau during an online news briefing.

Oil companies raised pump prices this week by P4.88 per liter for gasoline, P8.82 per liter for diesel, and P6.47 per liter for kerosene. Oil companies adust their prices weekly to reflect movements in the world oil market.

Abad said based on the latest report monitored by the DOE, Saudi Arabia is now loading 14 million barrels of crude oil ready for export back through the Strait of Hormuz. ‘It sends the message that they will continue to supply their buyers. That will really drastically change the price trend; instead of going up, it’s going down. We just hope that more will be added,’ Abad said.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin, meanwhile, reiterated that the Philippines cannot control global fuel prices because the country is an importer, and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East suggests the situation will not be resolved immediately.

Garin said that while the country must remain pragmatic but optimistic, Filipinos are urged to be mindful and control their fuel and electricity consumption.

The DOE said it is implementing various programs, and the nation currently holds a stable national average supply of approximately 53 days of inventory, which is well above the legally required 15 to 30 days.

‘You might ask, ‘How long will this continue?’ We cannot dictate what will happen. While all this is unfolding, the Philippines has no control over the global market, as we are an importer. I certainly do not wish to constantly deliver bad news.

‘We simply need to remain optimistic about the situation, yet proceed with caution; we must be pragmatic while maintaining optimism. We hope and pray for this to end, but we must be prepared. Given the developments in the Middle East, it is likely that this will not be resolved immediately. We cannot control prices, but we can control how we use fuel and electricity,’ Garin said.

MAKATI Medical Center (MakatiMed, www.makatimed.net.ph) has been certified as a Category D Newborn Hearing Diagnostic, Intervention, Surgical and Rehabilitation Center, the highest classification under the Newborn Hearing Screening Reference Center.

MakatiMed is only the second hospital in the Philippines to receive the distinction. The certification is significant as Category D Centers go beyond newborn hearing screening.

They have the capability to provide a full range of care for children identified with hearing concerns, including confirmatory hearing tests, hearing aid fitting, ear surgery such as cochlear implantation, and speech rehabilitation.

This means that a newborn who requires further assessment after screening can access the next stages of evaluation and treatment through a coordinated team within the same institution. Rather than treating hearing concerns as a single diagnostic issue, the Category D classification recognizes the need for care that may extend from diagnosis to medical or surgical intervention and rehabilitation.

The certification follows a collaborative effort among MakatiMed’s Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Pediatrics-Section of Developmental Pediatrics, and Speech Language Pathologists of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Their combined expertise covers the medical, developmental, surgical, and communication needs that may arise in children with hearing difficulties.

For families, the designation means access to a broader range of specialized services as their children’s needs become clearer. For MakatiMed, it adds another level of capability to its Pediatric and ENT services and strengthens its role in the early identification and management of childhood hearing concerns.

THE Philippine economy may struggle to meet even the 3.3-percent growth forecast of BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, as weaker-than-expected activity in the third quarter raises downside risks to the country’s full-year growth outlook.

BMI said early indicators suggest that the economy entered the third quarter with ‘less momentum than anticipated,’ putting its 2026 growth forecast at risk.

The research firm currently expects the Philippine economy to grow by 3.3 percent this year, below the government’s 3.5- to 4.5-percent target range.

With the economy expanding by 2.6 percent in the first half, growth would need to accelerate to at least 3.9 percent in the second half to meet BMI’s full-year forecast.

‘While we had expected public capex and a low base to underpin this recovery, early indicators suggest that the economy entered Q3 with less momentum than anticipated,’ BMI said.

The economy grew by 2.3 percent in the second quarter, bringing first-half growth to 2.6 percent, significantly slower than the 5.4-percent expansion recorded in the same period last year.

BMI said investment, which it had expected to support the recovery in the third quarter, appeared to have remained weak.

The research firm said the renewed scrutiny surrounding the flood-control investigation likely delayed project implementation further, weighing on both public and private construction.

‘The increased scrutiny probably delayed project implementation further, weighing on both public and private construction,’ BMI said.

Official data showed that investment remained a major drag on growth, with gross capital formation contracting by 9.2 percent year-on-year in the second quarter.

Gross fixed capital formation, meanwhile, contracted by 13.7 percent in the second quarter, worsening from the 2.5 percent decline in the first quarter. Construction also contracted by 14.8 percent, compared with a 4.3 percent decline in the previous quarter.

BMI said weaker public capital spending in the third quarter could prompt it to cut its 2026 growth forecast by around 0.2 percentage point to 3.1 percent, if July-August capital-outlay data confirm its assessment.

The firm also flagged continued weakness in private consumption, as elevated inflation eroded household purchasing power and discouraged discretionary spending.

This was compounded by deteriorating labor-market conditions, with unemployment rising to 6.0 percent in July from 4.9 percent in June, a four-year high.

While BMI noted that the June-July period typically brings an influx of new graduates into the workforce, it said the scale of the increase pointed to broader labor-market weakness, reinforcing household caution.

Severe weather also weighed on economic activity, with tropical storms and monsoon flooding causing repeated school and workplace closures.

Preliminary estimates from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showed infrastructure damage due to recent typhoons reached P14.3 billion, while agricultural losses were around P4.4 billion.

‘These weather-related disruptions are likely to further reduce the likelihood of a meaningful rebound in Q3 growth,’ BMI said.

On September 23, the prosecution and defense are scheduled to argue before the Senate Impeachment Court over a short but difficult phrase in the Constitution: conviction requires ‘two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.’ The Constitution also gives the Senate the ‘sole power to try and decide’ impeachment cases.

Before the Senate decides, return to September 16, when four former Supreme Court Justices-Hilario Davide Jr., Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno, and Adolfo Azcuna-were asked three questions: Who belongs among ‘all the Members’? What guidance does Avelino v. Cuenco provide? And may a senator-judge who did not attend or substantially participate nevertheless cast the final vote?

Their answers were more nuanced than three against one.

Davide: Can this senator act?

Panganiban: Can this senator judge fairly?

Puno: Can the impeachment court itself still try and decide?

Azcuna: Is this person still legally a senator who must therefore count?

First: Who belongs in ‘all the members’?

Davide begins with the individual senator’s qualification and ability to act.

Holding office does not end his inquiry. The senator must also be legally and physically qualified to perform the duties of senator-judge. ‘Legally able’ means no legal restraint prevents the exercise of senatorial powers. ‘Physically or actually able’ means mental or physical incapacity, health conditions, or comparable circumstances do not prevent performance of those duties.

His question is: Can this senator, in law and in fact, act as a senator-judge?

Panganiban looks at the individual senator differently. Being able to act is not enough. The senator must also have meaningfully engaged with the evidence.

He accepts that two-thirds of 24 is mathematically 16. But impeachment is not merely arithmetic. It is judgment. A senator-judge must know the evidence sufficiently to search for truth and decide fairly.

His question is: Has this senator learned enough from the case to judge truthfully and fairly?

Puno changes the scale of the inquiry.

Davide and Panganiban look mainly at the individual senator. Puno steps backward and looks at the impeachment court as a whole. The Constitution gave the Senate the power not merely to hear an impeachment case, but to try and decide it. Puno asks whether a rigid interpretation of ‘all the Members’ could prevent the court from completing that task. He also stresses that the Constitution says ‘two-thirds,’ not the fixed number 16.

Take a simple illustration. Suppose only 15 senators were legally able to function as senator-judges. If the denominator remained rigidly 24, conviction would still require 16 votes. But only 15 could vote. Conviction would be impossible even if all 15 voted to convict. One constitutionally possible judgment would be closed off before the evidence finally determined the result.

Puno does not say the denominator should shrink whenever senators are absent. Mere absence is not necessarily inability; an absent senator may still study transcripts, recordings, exhibits, and the record. His narrower point is that the rule should not be applied so mechanically that the impeachment court cannot complete its duty to try and decide.

His question is: Can the impeachment court itself still finish its constitutional job?

Azcuna begins from the opposite direction: continuing membership and the purpose of the supermajority.

If a person legally remains a senator, Azcuna says, that senator remains within ‘all the Members.’ The Constitution deliberately requires a supermajority for conviction. Impeachment may remove a high constitutional officer before the end of a fixed term; where that officer was elected, removal can displace an electoral mandate. For Azcuna, the high threshold protects against removal by a temporary or passing partisan majority.

That is why he insists upon a stable denominator. If absence or participation can reduce the number who count, the number needed for conviction may fall with it. The constitutional protection would shrink as well.

His question is: Is this person still legally a senator-and, if so, must that senator remain counted in the deliberately high supermajority?

Second: What does Avelino v. Cuenco tell us?

Avelino concerned Senate quorum, not an impeachment conviction threshold. None of the four treated it as an automatic answer.

Davide saw possible guidance by analogy. Puno called it an imperfect precedent because it involved different language and circumstances. Panganiban placed it within a broader line of jurisprudence. Azcuna drew the sharpest distinction: Avelino dealt with quorum, while impeachment expressly requires two-thirds of ‘all the Members.’

Put simply: Avelino may help the Senate think. It does not do the Senate’s thinking for it.

Third: Who may validly vote?

Davide distinguishes complete nonparticipation from imperfect participation. Failure to ask questions does not itself prove nonparticipation; a senator-judge may listen and reflect without constantly intervening. But never participating presents a different problem.

Panganiban stresses truth and fairness. If a senator has not put himself in a position to know the evidence and make a fair judgment, he questions whether that senator should vote.

Puno distinguishes absence from inability to judge. Personal attendance at every hearing is not indispensable if the senator can fairly decide from transcripts, recordings, exhibits, and the record.

Azcuna makes perhaps the cleanest separation: Who counts and who may vote are different questions. A senator may remain a legal member-and therefore remain in the denominator-while separately deciding whether the record has been studied sufficiently to cast a responsible vote.

More than five centuries ago in Florence, Michelangelo faced the block of marble from which emerged the magnificent sculpture of David. Constitutional interpretation is not sculpture. An interpreter cannot carve whatever figure imagination prefers. The constitutional text remains both material and boundary.

But fine interpretation, like fine carving, depends upon seeing where one line ends and another begins.

On September 16, four distinguished jurists examined the same constitutional marble. Their different cuts revealed more clearly the constitutional questions within it.

On September 23 or thereafter, the Senate must decide which lines the Constitution itself will bear.

Only then can it answer the arithmetic.

First it must answer: Who counts?

Dr. Pablo Trillana III is a lawyer, author, former Chairman of the National Historical Institute (now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines), and a lifelong student of Philippine history and Rizal studies.

Green developer Arthaland is taking its sustainable residential vision north with the opening of the Arthaland Gallery in Quezon City, featuring Liv, its newest residential development in the Katipunan area.

Designed as an immersive touchpoint for prospective homeowners, the gallery brings the project’s vision closer to the market, allowing visitors to experience firsthand how thoughtful design, sustainability and contemporary urban living come together in a community positioned within one of Quezon City’s established residential and education hubs.

Located at the corner of Rajah Matanda Street and Katipunan Avenue, the gallery is about 3 kilometers, or roughly Jive to 10 minutes, from the Liv project site.

‘The Arthaland Gallery experience was designed to give visitors a feel for Liv even before it is completed. They can see and experience the units and lifestyle we are creating at Liv as

Arthaland expands its presence in Quezon City,’ says Celeste Cariño, associate vice president for business planning and development, Arthaland.

The space includes a display area, a digital kiosk, a scale model of the development, a unit finishes area, and fully furnished studio and one-bedroom model units. It will also have a café operated by the local brand Switch Coffee, with an indoor space and an al fresco area open to the public.

The gallery was launched through a symbolic Tree of Life ceremony attended by the Arthaland project team and partners.

Cariño says the Tree of Life reflects the values behind Liv, including balance, harmony, unity, and the interconnectedness between people and nature.

During the ceremony, the representatives led by Cariño watered a plant to symbolize the nurturing of shared roots. The tree then lit up from its roots upward, formally opening the gallery. The Tree of Life will eventually be part of Liv’s podium design.

She describes Liv as a glue bringing together carefully crafted residences, study and work areas, wellness facilities, and social spaces to create a vertical community centered on connection, well-being, and sustainable living. The development builds on

She says Arthaland’s experience in the mid-market residential segment for sustainability, wellness, exceptional quality, and thoughtful design is geared to benefit more people.

Liv champions connectivity with development’s location, with dual access to Katipunan Avenue and Esteban Abada Street, Liv features a dedicated bridgeway connecting directly to Ateneo de Manila University’s Gate 1. It also has dual street access and is about a five- minute walk from LRT 2 Katipunan Station. Miriam College, the University of the Philippines, and a range of schools, commercial establishments, and lifestyle destinations are also within easy reach.

The 46-story Liv North will be the first of the two towers in the development, offering 748 residential units. Studio, One-bedroom, and Two-bedroom units range from approximately 24 to 70 square meters and are designed for investors, parents seeking homes for their children, and professionals seeking a well-connected address near leading educational institutions and key business districts.

The model units at Liv were designed by Hong Kong-based RGBA Design Ltd., which worked with Arthaland on interior architecture and hospitality design. Founded and led by Rowena Guevara Berroya, Cariño says RGBA brings more than two decades of experience across the Philippines and Asia, with a portfolio that includes collaborations with major hospitality groups. For Liv, Cariño says RGBA designed the interiors to make the most of compact urban spaces without making them feel restrictive, creating homes that are functional, flexible, and distinctly personal.

Cariño describes the 25-square-meter Studio model unit as envisioned for a young achiever who is beginning to build her future while expressing her own style. Instead of a conventional bed arrangement, the model unit features a custom bunk bed with a study area underneath, creating distinct spaces for rest, work, and creativity while keeping the living area open. Large operable windows bring fresh air and natural light into the unit, while the separate toilet and shower areas allow two routines to run simultaneously.

Adaptable layouts also allow the spaces to evolve as residents’ needs change, while biophilic elements bring a touch of nature into the home.The approximately 40-square-meter One-bedroom model unit takes a different approach, designed for a resident who has grown into their own identity and values independence, comfort and intentional choices. A private balcony extends the living space, while large operable windows bring in natural light and fresh air. The separate toilet and shower areas provide added privacy and convenience, particularly when entertaining guests.

Liv North is targeted for turnover in July 2031.