Category: Business Mirror

The play, in real time to the naked eye, might have looked very close to a violation. LeBron James leaped, got his right hand on the ball with a few tenths of the game’s final second remaining and tapped it through the basket to give the Los Angeles Lakers a buzzer-beating win last season.

Referees on the floor called it correctly. Video replay backed up their call, and the Lakers got a victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Turns out, it wasn’t close at all.

The NBA has a relatively new tool called ‘automated officiating,’ and the robotic eyes that are now tracking just about everything on basketball courts showed that James was nowhere near committing offensive basket interference on that play. It wasn’t needed to decide matters in that case – again, the humans got it right – but the NBA is tapping into technology more and more to ensure that plays like those get adjudicated correctly.

‘Turns out, computers are really good at this,’ said Evan Wasch, an NBA executive vice president overseeing basketball strategy and analytics. ‘So, if we can invest in this technology to get more calls right on the objective ones, we do two things.

‘One, the accuracy on those calls, by definition, goes up. But we also free up the human referees to not have to focus on those calls and in turn allow them to focus more closely on the really difficult judgment plays that they’re so adept at and actually increase accuracy there, too. We think there’s what we call double bottom-line benefit to doing this from an accuracy perspective.’

Basketball, of course, is not alone in veering toward higher-tech officiating.

Robot umpires are getting called up to Major League Baseball next season; humans will still make the calls, but teams can challenge ball or strike calls and an automated system will determine if those challenges were successful. Many major tennis tournaments, even Wimbledon, have replaced line judges with electronic line-calling. Soccer has technology to tell referees if a ball fully crossed a goal line or if someone was offsides, calls that in real time might just be guesswork.

It’s important to note that NBA referees are not being replaced. Technology is just helping; instead of six human eyes on a court, it’s now six human eyes and a whole lot of camera lenses that are there to collect as much data as the league can think of.

‘Let’s get it right,’ Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said. ‘And let’s get right quicker.’

Those are the goals, the NBA insists. Using technology helps with game flow thanks to shorter review times, helps with the accuracy and also provides transparency in the ability to show fans and players computer-generated images to explain how calls were made.

Cameras in arenas are helping to precisely make calls such as the ones along sidelines and baselines – who was a ball off, was it out of bounds, that sort of thing – as well as determining if blocked shots were good or was goaltending committed on those plays.

‘What we’re doing is tracking a bunch of objects in space with incredible precision,’ Wasch said. ‘We are tracking a basketball, fingers, feet, heads, hands, all the parts of the body. We’re tracking them in space with cameras and sensors. And there’s an element of machine learning and artificial intelligence to build those algorithms on top of that to then know what in fact happened from a basketball perspective based on the movement of all those things.’

The technology isn’t limited to calls or non-calls.

Some referees have been wearing earpieces during this preseason as the league tinkers with ways for better communication methods. There’s been talk at the league of sending alerts to smartwatches about decisions on calls. And at summer league this year, there was even a sensor placed inside the ball to help collect data. The sensor weighs about the same as a raisin does. Hundreds of players used the ball, which typically weighs somewhere around 600 grams; nobody noticed that it was about a gram heavier than usual.

In the end, it’s all about making the product better.

‘There’s actually been a ton of openness from the referees and the referee union on implementing this technology,’ Wasch said. ‘It lets them focus on the things that they train for this job to do.’

FOR countless indigent families all over the country, the loss of a loved one often comes with another painful reality-the inability to afford a decent burial.

That burden, long carried in silence, may finally be lifted with the enactment of Republic Act 12309, or the Free Funeral Services Act.

The new law, which lapsed into effect on September 28, 2025, ensures that funeral services are provided free of charge to poor and indigent Filipinos, as well as to individuals affected by calamities, disasters, or other emergencies who cannot afford the cost of a dignified farewell.

Authored by Cebu Rep. Duke Frasco through House Bill 102 and supported by its Senate counterpart, Senate Bill 2965, the measure represents a milestone in social welfare-one that speaks directly to the government’s role in protecting the dignity of every Filipino, even in death.

Frasco first introduced the measure on June 30, 2022, with the initial goal of regulating funeral costs and preventing the exploitation of grieving families. But what began as a consumer protection bill evolved into a broader social justice initiative-a vision to ensure that no Filipino is denied dignity simply because of poverty.

‘Death comes to all, but dignity should not be reserved for the few,’ Frasco said. ‘Every Filipino, regardless of income or circumstance, deserves a dignified farewell. This law ensures that compassion, and not cost, defines how we treat the dead.’

Under the new law, local governments, in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and accredited funeral service providers, will handle the implementation of free funeral services for qualified beneficiaries.

For Frasco, the Free Funeral Services Act is more than just a piece of legislation-it is a statement of values. ‘This law is not only about free funeral services; it is about lifting a heavy burden from families who are already suffering and reaffirming our shared humanity, especially in the most difficult moments,’ he explained.

The passage of this law reinforces Frasco’s long-standing advocacy for inclusive and compassionate governance, a philosophy that has guided his work in Congress. It extends the reach of social welfare programs beyond the living, ensuring that every Filipino, rich or poor, is afforded dignity in their final journey.

As Frasco described it, ‘This is a victory for the Filipino people-a victory that honors life by dignifying death.’

In the end, the Free Funeral Services Act is not just about providing free services. It is a testament to empathy in public policy-a reminder that true governance is measured not only by how it serves the living but also by how it honors those who have passed.

SISI RONDINA and Bernadeth Pons and three other Alas Pilipinas pairs fell to stronger opponents at the start of the main draw action to drop to must-win situations in the Volleyball World 2025 Beach Pro Tour Challenge on Thursday at the Nuvali Sands Court by Ayala Land in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

First to fall when the sun shone brightly the whole day were James Buytrago and Ran Abdilla to a taller Australian duo of D’Artagnan Potts and Jack Pearse, 21-14, 21-18, in a Pool H morning session.

In the afternoon, Kly Orillaneda and Gen Eslapor lost to Finland’s Anniina Parkkinin and Vilhelmiina Prihti, 11-21, 15-21, in Pool H and Sonny Villapando and Dij Rodriguez bowed to New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley and Olivia MacDonald, 19-21, 14-21, in Pool D.

Then the celebrated pair of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons yielded to world-ranked Thainara Mylena Feitosa de Oliveira and Talita Simonetti of Brazil, 17-21, 16-21, in Pool G play.

All’s not lost for Alas Pilipinas though, but they need to win the second of their main draw matches-and get the better end of possible tiebreaks-to advance further in the tournament hosted by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation headed by Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara.

‘This is a first time for us in the Challenge, and we learned a lot of new things, but we’re not out yet,’ Rondina said. ‘We’re just grateful that we played them-they’ve been playing the sport for the longest time.’

Rondina and Pons are ranked No. 137 in the world while Oliveira and Simonetti are one of seven world-ranked Brazilan pairs at No. 72.

‘We played against a great Brazilian team that can adjust in any situation and they changed the complex ionof the game and we couldn’t,’ Brazilian coach Joao ‘Kioday’ Luciano Simao Barbosa said. ‘We must learn from this.’

Up next for Rondina and Pons on Friday are Slovenia’s Ziva Javornik and Tajda Lovsin, who are No. 78 in the world but fell victims to the Alas aces in the Futures tournament in Budapest only last month, 16-21, 21-15, 15-9.

‘We’re hoping we them again,’ Kioday said.

Villapando and Rodriguez take on Japan’s Sakura Ito and Mayu Sawame and Eslapor and Orillaneda battle the US’s Teegan Van Gunst and Piper Ferch on Friday.

Buytrago and Abdilla fought for survival against Americans Tim Brewster and Ryan Lerna on Thursday evening.

LAST week, in Gratitude’s Next Chapter: Our Everyday Silent Heroes-Part I, I reflected on pharmacists and health professionals who guide us in keeping our families well. This week, I want to turn our gratitude toward another group of quiet, steadfast heroes: those who care for our homes and families behind the scenes: our yayás, helpers, drivers, guards, and staff who make daily life possible.

Until I was 8 years old, I happily grew up with my family living with my paternal grandparents. My nanny, Manang Eyang, woke me up every morning, but she allowed me to sleep in a little longer by putting on my socks and part of my uniform-that is, until she was scolded for doing so. After my morning pre-school class in Chiang Kai Shek, she would be waiting eagerly to ask if I got a star that day. If I did, she would buy me my favorite pink ‘sago’ [boba] drink from the street vendor, or my red Chippy snack. Then we would ride a jeepney going home. There was a time we were feeling adventurous, and she actually convinced the driver of the ‘kalesa’ (horse carriage) to bring us all the way to D. Tuazon, way beyond his downtown Manila route. Then, there was another time when I was already studying in St. Jude, and I really wanted Chippy, tehn she said her money was just enough for our commute. But she challenged me and if I was willing to walk so we can use the money to buy my Chippy. Wow, up to today, I cannot imagine walking from Mendiola to Legarda, then reaching España, so we would only have one ride left, with me sitting on her lap, to get home.

In my childhood times of fear and pain, Manang Eyang would be the first person to know. Whether it was me losing grip of a balloon I got from school, or when I stepped on an exposed three-inch nail, or when I got teased at school for being ‘negro’ because I was darker than my classmates, she was that person who would be the first to show me I was stronger than that, and I just needed to fight back. Her famous line was ‘Malayo pa yan sa bituka!’ (That’s so far from your intestines.) With her firm support and ’embrace,’ I could stand up from my bloody foot, asked for a bandage, and was riding my tricycle in a few minutes. With her example of fierceness, never standing down to anyone despite being barely 5 feet, I would show my fist to the boys who teased me and gained courage to even challenge the biggest boy in our class to arm wrestle (which I won).

Outside of my Grand Aunt and my Grandfather, Manang Eyang was my strength growing up. She showed me how important family was. She would share stories of her love for her youngest brother, Bernard, as well as how she needed to earn money to build her parents a house someday. And later on, she would be so proud of having supported her nephews and nieces all the way until they became teachers and a lawyer.

These thoughts helped me cope every time I dreaded her leaving me when she needed to go back to her home town of San Quintin. I would hide, fearing I would cry in front of her, so I would sit at the step of our stairs, just enough to see her walking out our front gate. I would cry after she left, comforting myself for the Indian mango she would bring back when she returned. Manang Eyang showed me early on that people, even those not your own blood, can love you like family.

This is why when I became a mother, I carried the mindset that my community can help me raise my children.that parenting did not mean everything myself. I have been blessed to have great people around our family, helping my husband and I ‘hold our days together.’ One of them is my son’s yaya who has been with us from the day he was born. I remember when my son just turned 1, our company changed so much that I had to be up at 4:30 am for work, then bring my daughter to school, go to work, and then I would come home at already past 7 every night. My son would be fast asleep. I would have conversations with her after I tutored my daughter. I would ask how my son’s day was, what she had difficulty handling. Then I would research about the issues and share my learnings with her after. Every first of each month, I would endorse to her play crates labeled for each day of the week with easy index card instructions. We loved discussing my son’s milestones together.

We often talk about excellence at work, but there is a quiet kind of excellence that shows up every single day-the helper who wakes up before everyone else, the driver who endures traffic to ensure the kids arrive safely, the security guard who greets you with a smile when you get home late. These are acts of care that rarely make it to our gratitude lists, yet they sustain us more than we realize.

Our children watch how we treat these people. Gratitude is taught not only through words but through tone, gestures and consistency. Since my children were young, we would visit Manang Eyang’s resting place in San Quintin. Along the way, my husband and I would share stories about her. When we get there, we would chat with Manang’s relatives. When Meagan was in senior high, she did a collaborative project with one of Manang’s nieces, who is a high school teacher now.

THE Philippines will resume issuing electronic visas (eVisas) to Chinese nationals in November 2025, a year after suspending the service due to system and vetting issues during its pilot phase.

The Philippine Embassy in Beijing confirmed that the eVisa system will be relaunched across its consular offices in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, and Xiamen.

The platform will allow qualified applicants residing in Mainland China and its Special Administrative Regions to apply online for short-term visits to the Philippines.

‘This initiative will make travel more convenient for Chinese nationals visiting the Philippines for tourism or business,’ said Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz.

The eVisa will be valid for a non-extendable stay of up to 14 days, with entry permitted only through Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila and Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

The relaunch follows the abrupt suspension of the eVisa system in November 2023, just three months after its pilot.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) cited system reliability and payment processing limitations as key reasons for halting the rollout. At the time, the platform only accepted cash, debit, and credit cards-excluding dominant mobile payment options in China such as Alipay and WeChat Pay.

The suspension had ripple effects across the tourism sector. In a September 2025 budget hearing, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco told lawmakers that the DFA’s cancellation of the eVisa program-originally projected to issue up to 2 million visas annually-was a major factor in the country’s failure to meet its 2024 target of 7.7 million foreign arrivals.

Only 5.95 million tourists visited the Philippines that year, a 28.3% drop from the 2019 peak.

To address technical and payment issues, the DFA has partnered with VFS Global and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to improve platform stability and service delivery.

Ambassador FlorCruz signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Kishen Singh, VFS Global CEO for Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Mongolia, to formalize the collaboration.

Applicants seeking longer stays or those not eligible for the eVisa may continue to apply for conventional visas through Visa Application Centers in Beijing, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

FlorCruz emphasized that the eVisa relaunch aligns with broader diplomatic efforts to deepen bilateral ties.

‘This comes at an opportune time,’ he said, referencing the Joint Consular Consultations held in July 2025 between the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting underscored the importance of people-to-people exchange, a key theme as the Philippines commemorates 50 years of diplomatic relations with China.

Originally piloted in Manila in 2023, the eVisa system is expected to enhance consular efficiency and improve public service delivery. With China remaining one of the region’s top sources of tourists, the renewed program aims to facilitate travel and strengthen bilateral engagement.

The first time the filmmaker Rebecca Miller met Martin Scorsese was on the set of 2002’s Gangs of New York. Miller’s husband, Daniel Day-Lewis, was starring in it. There, Miller found an anxious Scorsese on the precipice of the film’s enormous fight scene, shot on a sprawling set.

‘He seemed like a young man, hoping that he had chosen the right way to shoot a massive scene,’ Miller recalls. ‘I was stunned by how youthful and alive he was.’ That remains much the same throughout Miller’s expansive and stirring documentary portrait of the endlessly energetic and singularly essential filmmaker. In Mr. Scorsese, which premieres on Friday on Apple TV, Miller captures the life and career of Scorsese, whose films have made one of the greatest sustained arguments for the power of cinema.

‘We talk about 32 films, which is a lot of films. But there are yet more films,’ Miller says, referencing Scorsese’s projects to come. ‘It’s a life that overspills its own bounds. You think you’ve got it, and then it’s more and more and more.’

Scorsese’s life has long had a mythic arc: The asthmatic kid from Little Italy who grew up watching old movies on television and went on to make some of the defining New York films. That’s a part of Mr. Scorsese, too, but Miller’s film, culled from 20 hours of interviews with Scorsese over five years, is a more intimate, reflective and often funny conversation about the compulsions that drove him and the abiding questions-of morality, faith and filmmaking-that have guided him.

‘Who are we? What are we, I should say?’ Scorsese says in the opening moments of the series. ‘Are we intrinsically good or evil?’

‘This is the struggle,’ he adds. ‘I struggle with it all the time.’

Miller began interviewing Scorsese during the pandemic. He was then beginning to make Killers of the Flower Moon. Their first meetings were outside. Miller first pitched the idea to Scorsese as a multifaceted portrait. Then, she imagined a two-hour documentary. Later, by necessity, it turned into a five-hour series. It still feels too short.

‘I explained I wanted to take a cubist approach, with different shafts of light on him from all different perspectives-collaborators, family,’ Miller says. ‘Within a very short amount of time, he sort of began talking as if we were doing it. I was a bit confused, thinking, ‘Is this a job interview or a planning situation?”

While the bulk of Mr. Scorsese are the director’s own film-to-film recollections, a wealth of other personalities color in the portrait. That includes collaborators, like editor Thelma Schoonmaker, Paul Schrader, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Day-Lewis. It also includes Scorsese’s children, his ex-wives and his old Little Italy pals. One, Salvatore ‘Sally Gaga’ Uricola for the first time is revealed as the model for De Niro’s troublemaking, mailbox-blowing-up Johnny Boy in Mean Streets.

‘Cinema consumed him at such an early age and it never left him,’ DiCaprio says in the film. ‘There will never be anyone like him again,’ says Steven Spielberg.

It can be easy to think of Scorsese, perhaps the most revered living filmmaker, as an inevitability, that of course he gets to make the films he wants. But Mr. Scorsese is a reminder how often that wasn’t the case and how frequently Scorsese found himself on the outside of Hollywood, whether due to box-office disappointment, a clash of style or the perceived danger in controversial subjects (Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ) he was drawn to.

Film executives today, an especially risk-averse lot, could learn some lessons from Mr. Scorsese in what a difference they can make for a personal filmmaker. As discussed in the film, in the late 1970s, producer Irwin Winkler refused to do Rocky II with United Artists unless they also made ‘Raging Bull.’

Mr. Scorsese recently debuted at the New York Film Festival, where Miller’s son, Ronan Day-Lewis made his directorial debut with Anemone, a film that marked her husband’s return from retirement. At the Mr. Scorsese premiere, a packed audience at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall came to enthusiastically revel in, and pay tribute to its subject.

‘You hear all those people laughing with him or suddenly bursting into applause when they see Thelma Schoonmaker or at the end of the Last Waltz sequence,’ Miller says. ‘There was a sense of such palpable enthusiasm and love. My husband said something I thought was very beautiful: It reminded everyone of how much they love him.’

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has launched a platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to centralize the agency’s legal, budget and administrative documents.

On Thursday, the DBM kicked off the Managed Intelligent Network for Advanced Insights (MINAI) as part of its push for digital transformation.

Undersecretary Maria Francesca Del Rosario, head of the Information and Communications Technology Group, said MINAI represents a ‘strategic leap forward’ in managing, accessing and protecting knowledge in public financial management.

Del Rosario said the systems aims to store institutional knowledge and outdated and fragmented documents in an interactive, AI-enabled central knowledge system accessible anytime and anywhere.

It features intelligent search capabilities, a chatbot interface and robust security controls to allow DBM employees to quickly retrieve verified and up-to-date information.

Del Rosario said DBM employees themselves will train the AI, contribute to its knowledge pool and validate the information it learns,’ Del Rosario said. ‘This ensures that our institutional knowledge remains accurate and reliable even as leadership and personnel evolve.’

MINAI also runs on NVIDIA GPUs, advanced computing chips that enable artificial intelligence to perform complex processing.

Del Rosario said the DBM is among the first government institutions globally to use these chips for large-language model applications similar to ChatGPT, though MINAI remains entirely secure and self-contained.

‘We have to also anticipate that AI is here already and we have to upskill and capacitate our DBM employees to become an AI-enabled workforce,’ Del Rosario said, adding that employees must know how to do from engineering to train and validate AI models.

Meanwhile, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said MINAI is not just another system or tool-it makes the daily work in DBM easier, faster and more reliable.

Pangandaman said documents in the DBM are often scattered across different systems and folders, and finding them has resulted in wasted time, repeated work and confusion about which documents remain valid.

‘Through MINAI, we are making DBM a leader in serving the Filipino people with greater transparency, accountability, and efficiency,’ Pangandaman said.

‘Digitalization is our best way forward. It is the key to improving bureaucratic efficiency and ensuring sound fiscal management,’ she added.

The DBM’s ongoing digitalization efforts include the Budget and Treasury Management System, the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), Project DIME, and public dashboards that track budget details from the National Expenditure Program to the General Appropriations Act.

For this year, the DBM allotted P72.08 billion to support the ICT-related programs and projects of government agencies. This is higher by 11.6 percent than the P64.6 billion in the 2024 national budget.

The agency also earmarked P1.36 billion for cybersecurity for 2025, a whopping 315- percent increase from P330 million in 2024, to ensure the ‘safe and seamless implementation of government’s digitalization efforts.’

Woman National Master Rinoa Sadey notches her seventh point following her victory over Josemier Panol as De La Salle University secures at least a third-place finish after a 2-2 draw with University of Santo Tomas in round 11 of University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 88 collegiate women’s chess action on Wednesday at the Adamson University Gym.

Changing the landscape of Philippine healthcare, mWell, the digital healthcare arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), has partnered with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to explore the integration of healthcare services into the government’s eGov PH App.

This landmark collaboration aims to create the country’s first national digital health integration within a government platform, enabling millions of Filipinos to gain direct access to doctors, health records, and essential services.

‘This partnership will be foundational in providing every Filipino their right to quality care,’ said mWell Chairman and MPIC Chairman, President, and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan. ‘Healthcare is always among the top concerns of our countrymen. Together with government, we will close the healthcare gap and uplift quality of life in every community, and across every generation.’

DICT Secretary Henry R. Aguda emphasized the significance of the collaboration. ‘This partnership with mWell is a critical step in building a digitally connected nation where every Filipino has access to quality healthcare. By integrating these essential services into our eGov PH App, we are not only advancing the government’s Digital Philippines agenda but also making good on our promise to bring health services directly to our people, no matter where they are.’

Chaye Cabal-Revilla, President and CEO of mWell and Chief Finance, Risk, and Sustainability Officer of MPIC, underscored the transformational opportunity. ‘The future of healthcare is now. This partnership brings together the country’s greatest minds and the biggest hearts committed to make the Philippines a global leader in digital health. By working closely with the DICT, we are creating a digital healthcare network where government, providers, and patients are united by technology and compassion. It means a mother in a remote barangay can consult a doctor without leaving her community. It means young people can seek mind health support with dignity and privacy. It means families can keep their medical history safe for a lifetime. This is the promise of digital health that provides accessible, affordable, and inclusive care for all.’

The ceremonial signing was held at the mWell Primary Care Facility (PCF), the country’s first AI-powered clinic and mWell’s experience center for digital health. Powered by mWell’s Clinic Management System (CMS), PCF integrates mWell’s technologies, including the Health ID and AI-powered Electronic Medical Records (EMR). Aside from serving patients, PCF demonstrates how mWell’s solutions can empower both public and private health providers in support of Universal Health Care.

Supporting a Digital Philippines and Universal Health Coverage

The recent launch of the Philippines’ first digital Health ID through mWell goes beyond digitization. It establishes interoperable healthcare infrastructure that supports Universal Health Care goals and aligns with the government’s Digital Philippines agenda, including health programs such as the Yaman ng Kalusugan Program (YAKAP).

As part of the partnership, mWell and DICT are working towards integrating the mWell Health ID into the eGov PH App, which already has 18 million registered users. This planned integration positions mWell as the health engine behind DICT’s eGov platform, advancing a shared mission to make quality healthcare accessible to all Filipinos.

Through this collaboration, eGov PH users are envisioned to gain access to thousands of primary care doctors and specialists as well as mind health experts. mWell’s digital Health ID secures lifetime personal health records for individuals and families, while one-tap booking makes consultations more convenient.

Gerb Inajada, Chief Technology Officer of mWell said, ‘Our goal is simple: to remove the friction between patients, doctors, and government by making healthcare services seamlessly accessible through a single, trusted digital gateway. This integration ensures that every Filipino, wherever they are, can have access to care without borders.’

(L-R) Ms. Chaye Cabal- Revilla, President and CEO of mWell and Chief Finance, Risk, and Sustainability Officer of MPIC, Mr. Manny V. Pangilinan, mWell Chairman and MPIC Chairman, President and CEO, Mr. Henry Aguda, Secretary, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Mr. Luis Miguel Planas, Assistant Secretary, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

Building a sustainable and future-ready healthcare ecosystem

With the acquisition and integration of KonsultaMD, mWell has become the Philippines’ leading digital health platform. Through the mWell app, patients can consult virtually with doctors 24/7, receive e-prescriptions and lab referrals, and share their records with healthcare providers as needed.

Since the beginning of First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos’ Lab for All initiative, mWell has been providing telemedicine services to various communities nationwide. At the same time, mWell has been working with DICT to reach geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, deploying the mWell OnTheGo Clinic-In-A-Bag to remote barangays, bedridden patients, Indigenous Peoples, and soldiers in conflict zones.

To complement these services, mWell introduced drone medicine delivery to isolated islands and launched BangkaHealth, which brings telemedicine to houses on stilts in Sulu via small boats. The collaboration aims to bring healthcare services to more communities and build a truly connected nation, ensuring that digital health reaches an even broader population.

The Zambales Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) has asked local government units (LGUs) to identify possible evacuation areas across the province following a series of earthquakes that jolted various places in the country, including Zambales.

PDRRMO head Rolex Estella said this is part of the instruction by Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. for LGUs to review disaster contingency plans and formulate courses of action to mitigate the effects of disasters.

‘We’re looking for open spaces in all municipalities that could be used as tent cities should a strong earthquake happen,’ Estella told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday night, just hours before two tremors hit Zambales early Thursday morning.

Estella explained that earthquake scenarios presume that existing evacuation centers, which usually are public schools and barangay facilities, won’t be viable during severe tremors, as they may be prone to collapse.

Moreover, as earthquake location is unpredictable, ‘evacuation plans really become a challenge, so there is really a need to pinpoint safe spaces beforehand,’ he said.

Zambales was rocked by two earthquakes that occurred within five minutes of each other early Thursday.

A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded at 2:04 a.m. four kilometers west of Masinloc, followed by a magnitude 5.0 at 2:09 a.m. 8 kilometers west of the same town. Both occurred at a depth of 24 kilometers.

Last Saturday, October 11, another magnitude 5.0 earthquake also shook Zambales. So far, no damages nor casualties have been reported after the earthquakes.

Studies show that at least two active fault lines run across parts of the province: the East Zambales Fault, which extends offshore in the Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan north of the province, and the Iba Fault, which is located inland in central part of Zambales. Both are said to be part of a larger system of tectonic structures in the region, including the Bataan Volcanic Arc Complex (BVAC).

The Manila Trench, which is located west of Zambales, is also associated with frequent earthquakes and is said to have shown some activity with magnitude 5.0 and above tremors in 2024 and 2025.

Estella said Gov. Ebdane has encouraged LGUs to adopt a three-tiered approach to prepare for a possible ‘Big One,’ a projected magnitude 7.2 earthquake that could affect Metro Manila and nearby provinces due possible fractures along the West Valley Fault that extends from Bulacan to Laguna.

This involves identifying risks and developing plans of action, executing response and mitigating measures during disaster, and assessing the plan’s overall effectiveness afterwards.

The LGUs are expected to update their contingency plans and submit the same to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, which Ebdane chairs, Estella added.