Category: Business Mirror

On Friday, we will be celebrating the life of Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr. He was assassinated 43 years ago, on August 21, 1983, and today, Filipinos are being asked once again to sit with why that death still matters, and what it should still be asking of us.

His most famous act of courage happened in front of cameras. He knew what boarding that plane in 1983 might cost him, and he came home anyway. History remembers him because the moment was witnessed.

But the version of courage the Philippines actually runs on, most days, is the kind nobody photographs.

This has been a hard year to feel proud of institutions. Investigations drag on, trust gets rationed out carefully, and it’s easy to read the news and conclude that integrity has become a rare commodity. But it’s also worth noticing what most of us may be missing: the country hasn’t actually been kept standing by its most visible people. It’s been kept standing by the ones we do not witness.

It’s in the local engineer who signs off on a project only after actually inspecting it, knowing no one would catch her if she didn’t. It’s in the OFW nurse in a foreign hospital ward, still homesick after a decade, wiring money home on a reliable schedule. It’s in the volunteer who shows up with a boat during the fourth typhoon of the month, when the news cameras have moved on, but the water hasn’t.

The part of Ninoy’s story that gets remembered and reduced to a single image is his fall on the tarmac. The harder, less cinematic truth is that he spent years building toward that moment in exile, writing, organizing, staying convinced our country and his people were still worth the trouble, long before there was any evidence that the ending would be worth it. Most Filipinos who keep this country functioning are doing the same right now, not the tarmac part, but that doesn’t mean it’s less important or less demanding. It’s just that it is usually unwitnessed.

So this year, as we remember Ninoy once more, the useful question is whether you’d still do the honest version of your job, the honest version of your vote, the honest version of your small daily choices, on a day when absolutely no one is watching or checking. That’s the less glamorous form of courage, a decision made privately and repeatedly by millions of people who will never be named in a headline, but who keep being decent anyway.

Ninoy’s courage got a name, a monument, a holiday. Ours mostly won’t. But his was never meant to be the only kind that counted. It was meant to be the spark, not the whole fire. Forty-three years on, the fire is still made of the same unglamorous material. Ninoy’s courage bought this country a second chance. Ours is what we do with it when nobody’s asking us to.

THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday assured the public that it remains on heightened disaster response readiness as continuous rains from Tropical Cyclones (TCs) Maymay and Luis, along with the southwest monsoon or habagat, continue to threaten affected communities, ensuring the sustained delivery of relief assistance and social protection services to families in need.

As of Monday, August 17, the DSWD reported that more than 4.3 million family food packs (FFPs) are prepositioned nationwide, while P1.36 billion worth of food and non-food items (FNFIs) remains available at the agency’s disaster resource centers and Field Office warehouses for immediate deployment.

Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) said the agency’s Field Offices are continuously monitoring affected areas and coordinating with local government units (LGUs) and partner agencies to ensure that assistance reaches communities that may need additional support.

‘We continue to coordinate with our local government units [LGUs] and other partner agencies to ensure that not only relief assistance, but also the necessary social protection interventions, are delivered to our fellow Filipinos affected by Tropical Cyclones Luis and Maymay,’ Dumlao said.

The DSWD’s continuing response comes as thousands of families remain displaced due to the impact of TCs Maymay and Luis. Based on the latest Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Communication (DROMIC) report, 6,949 families or 24,181 individuals are still staying in evacuation centers.

To date, the agency has provided more than P690.911 million worth of assistance, including 1,015,417 family food packs, 12,710 non-food items, 16,971 ready-to-eat food boxes, and other food assistance to affected families.

The DSWD Field Offices have also extended P2.253 million worth of financial assistance to individuals and families affected by the disasters.

Beyond relief distribution, the agency continues to provide social protection interventions to address the emotional and psychosocial needs of disaster-affected communities.

Field offices in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Region 4-A (Calabarzon) have provided services through Child-Friendly Spaces, Women-Friendly Spaces, and Psychological First Aid sessions. These interventions served 739 individuals through Child-Friendly Spaces, 31 through Women-Friendly Spaces, and 210 individuals through Psychological First Aid.

Dumlao emphasized that disaster response goes beyond the distribution of relief goods, particularly for children, women, and other vulnerable groups who may experience stress and trauma during emergencies.

The agency has also deployed three mobile kitchens that have provided meals to 1,629 individuals in affected communities.

Meanwhile, DSWD Field Offices continue to conduct relief operations in various areas. Additional family food packs were distributed in Pangasinan by Field Office 1, while Field Office 2 provided additional food and non-food items to affected families in Claveria, Cagayan.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), additional family food packs were released to affected residents in several cities, including Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Manila, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pateros, Taguig, and Quezon City.

The DSWD said it will continue monitoring weather conditions and coordinating with concerned agencies to ensure that emergency assistance and protection services are immediately provided to communities affected by continuous rains.

As weather systems continue to bring rainfall in several areas, the agency urged communities to remain alert and coordinate with local authorities for updates and emergency assistance when needed.

Lopez-led First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH) on Monday said it rejected the offer of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. L.P. (KKR) to acquire a portion of FPH’s shareholding in First Gen Corp.

KKR earlier has offered to purchase 8.43 percent of FPH’s common shares in First Gen Corp. (FGen) and launch voluntary tender offer for FGen’s public float, both at P35 per share. FPH is the parent company of First Gen.

‘After careful deliberation and consideration, FPH has determined that KKR’s proposal does not represent FGen’s true value,’ FPH said in its disclosure.

KKR proposed to acquire an additional 20 percent stake in First Gen by initially acquiring an additional 8.43 percent from parent firm FPH at P35 per share for a total amount of P10.6 billion. KKR intends to launch a tender offer for 11.67 percent of First Gen’s outstanding shares at the same price at P35 apiece to support a potential voluntary delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange.

First Gen’s shares closed Monday at P27.20, while FPH shares closed at P102 apiece.

The Lopez Group’s clean and renewable energy provider said last week that its attributable recurring net income was nearly flat at P8.7 billion in the first half compared with the previous year’s P8.6 billion.

The company’s revenues jumped 73 percent to P41.1 billion in January to June from P23.7 billion in 2025. FGen said this was due to the higher prices of electricity sold by its power plants during the period.

Eugenio ‘Gabby’ L. Lopez III last week said Crème Investment Corp., the holding company through which his branch of the family owns a 25.7 percent stake in Lopez Inc., has completed the sale of all of its stake to businessman Ramon S. Ang.

The deal ended months of bickering with family allied with Gabby and those with their cousin Federico ‘Piki’ R. Lopez, FPH chairman and CEO.

Ang, chairman and CEO of San Miguel Corp., invested in his personal capacity through his wholly owned holding company, Illumina Investment Holdings Inc.

UNCERTAINTY over the holding of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections should be resolved before the filing of certificates of candidacy in September, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body is ready to proceed with the elections under the existing law, but Congress should ‘ideally’ decide on any postponement before the filing period begins.

‘Hopefully, by the end of September, we will already know whether the elections will be postponed or not because this is a question the public is already asking,’ Garcia said.

He said allowing the uncertainty to stretch into the filing period could leave prospective candidates unsure whether the elections would push through.

‘It would be difficult to reach that date without knowing whether the barangay and SK elections will push through,’ Garcia said.

However, Comelec is not taking a position on proposals to either postpone or proceed with the polls, he added.

Garcia said preparations would continue unless Congress changes the law, noting that materials already procured could still be used if the elections are eventually reset.

About P8 billion of the P19-billion budget for the elections has already been spent, he said.

Meanwhile, some expenses could be lost if the polls were pushed back, including printed voters’ lists and election supplies that may expire or become unusable as voter records change.

Garcia cited ballpens and indelible ink among the materials that could no longer be used depending on how long the elections are postponed.

Apart from possible wastage, Comelec may need another P2.5 billion to P3.5 billion if higher personnel and transportation costs persist amid the current crisis.

Garcia said every P1,000 increase in the honorarium of around one million teachers who will serve during the elections would require an additional P1 billion, while higher oil prices could further raise the cost of deploying election materials nationwide.

Comelec is still determining the exact additional funding requirement, with Garcia stressing that the P2.5-billion to P3.5-billion estimate remains subject to further assessment.

INFRASTRUCTURE spending is seen to rebound and post double-digit growth in the second half of 2026, while the government increasingly turns to public-private partnerships to sustain infrastructure investment.

The government could finally snap its streak of declines in infrastructure spending in the second half, with growth partly driven by a low base in the same period last year, according to Budget Undersecretary Romeo Matthew T. Balanquit. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines’s forum on Friday.

When the flood control corruption scandal leaked, infrastructure spending had been down since the second half of 2025 due to stricter billing validation of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects.

‘We definitely see an increase in the third and fourth quarters this year,’ Balanquit said, noting that growth will also be supported by the utilization of funds that the Department of Budget and Management released to DPWH in the previous months.

This year, infrastructure spending was cut to P1.272 trillion from P1.558 trillion, equivalent to 4.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Last year, the Marcos Jr. administration was aiming for infrastructure spending as a share of GDP to be around 5 percent in the medium term.

What matters now, Balanquit said, is to increase the infrastructure spending-to-GDP ratio and not by relying indefinitely on higher government spending to meet its infrastructure needs.

‘In fact, we are trying to unbundle and release that burden from DPWH. When it comes to school-building infrastructure, the Department of Education is now trying to tap local government units and also the private sector through public-private partnerships [PPP],’ Balanquit said.

This is the direction the government is undertaking right now, Balanquit said, as they have seen greater private-sector appetite for infrastructure projects, with the PPP pipeline now exceeding 500 projects, compared with fewer than 100 before the enactment of the PPP Code.

The projects are also becoming more diversified, from traditional transport infrastructure such as roads and railways to social-sector infrastructure, he noted.

This strategy of tapping private investors will continue despite the recovery in public infrastructure spending, Balanquit added. ‘What’s great about this is that even the private sector is also becoming involved in investment in these long-term projects.’

The rebound in infrastructure spending could also boost economic growth in the second half, particularly as the government sticks to its full-year growth target of 3.5 to 4.5 percent, Balanquit said.

However, the economy would need to expand by around 6 percent in the second half to reach the upper end of the government’s target, he added.

‘I think that’s manageable,’ he said. ‘I honestly believe we will be doing well in terms of public construction.’

As of end-May, infrastructure spending and other capital outlays contracted by 42.9 percent to P268.4 billion from P471.5 billion in the same period a year ago.

AGRICULTURAL damage caused by the combined effects of the southwest monsoon and successive typhoons on local farmlands has breached P1 billion, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

In its latest report, the DA said damage and losses incurred by 30,073 farmers and fisherfolk have climbed to P1.03 billion.

Around 25,662 hectares of plantations were affected by the Southwest Monsoon (habagat) and tropical cyclones Luis and Maymay. Of these, 21,440 hectares still have a chance to recover.

The volume of production losses to agriculture and fisheries across seven regions stood at 25,280 metric tons (MT), affecting rice, corn, cassava, high-value crops, fisheries, livestock and poultry, infrastructure, machinery, and equipment.

The regions that recorded damage based on the DA’s monitoring were the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Western Visayas.

Among the commodities, the agency said rice sustained the brunt of the losses at 16,105 MT, valued at P589.44 million. This was followed by high-value crops at 7,772 MT, worth P313.07 million.

Corn and cassava also recorded losses, which stood at 1,309 MT for P46.24 million and 84 MT worth around P954,270, respectively.

The P9.26-million damage to fisheries and aquatic resources stemmed from damaged fishing boats, gears, tanks, and office buildings. Losses included produce, such as milkfish, tilapia, mangrove crab, oyster, and giant freshwater prawn.

Furthermore, the livestock sector lost 6,036 animal heads worth P6.91 million, which included chickens, swine, cattle, carabaos, goats, sheep, ducks, horses, quails, and turkeys.

Irrigation facilities, farm structures, and machineries also recorded damage valued at P47.86 million, P15.21 million, and P80,000, respectively.

Despite this, the DA said it has ramped up intervention efforts to support farmers and fisherfolk affected by the weather disturbances.

Several assistance measures included P177.67 million worth of agricultural inputs such as rice, corn, and vegetable seeds. It also issued 1,007 bags of rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) to the affected local government units (LGUs) of La Union and Batanes.

The DA also allocated an initial amount of P35.67 million for the indemnification of 5,005 insured affected farmers and fisherfolk through the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).

Loan offers of up to P25,000 from the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) are also available. These come with a three-year repayment term, interest-free.

Ralph Lauren welcomed guests to The Ralph Lauren Centre Court Suite at The Championships, Wimbledon, in July.

Guests were invited to experience the newly debuted The Polo Bar by Ralph Lauren at Centre Court, bringing the sophisticated warmth of the New York institution to the tournament’s historic grounds for the first time. Guests enjoyed classic cocktails and thoughtfully curated details throughout while watching the Gentlemen’s Singles Semi-finals.

Notable guests include, Dustin Hoffman, Keira Knightley, Richard E. Grant, Kento Kaku, Lesley Manville, Felicity Jones, Luke Thompson, Joe Locke, Rashida Jones, Ezra Koenig, Ananya Panday, Mia Armstrong, Bassel Khaiat. All the guests were dressed in Ralph Lauren.

In the Philippines, Polo Ralph Lauren is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists Inc., and is located at Shangri-La, Greenbelt 5, Rustans Makati, Solaire, and the newly opened Rustans Cebu Store.

Polo Ralph Lauren is also available online through www.lazada.ph, www.shopee.ph, www.zalora.ph, and www.rustans.com.

For Eurica Labapiez, reaching the national Top 10 of the 2026 Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT) is more than a personal academic triumph-it is a promise fulfilled to her family and proof that a student from a mountain barangay can rise to the top with determination and opportunity.

Labapiez, a graduate of Cebu Eastern College (CEC) and a Cebu City government scholar, placed 10th nationwide in the 2026 LEPT conducted in March, becoming the first topnotcher from barangay Toong, a mountain barangay in Cebu City.

Her achievement was celebrated Friday, Aug. 14, during CEC’s 2026 PACECGARBO, where she joined fellow CEC graduates Jessa Junio and Jenny Rose Daro, who placed third and fifth nationwide, respectively.

Each of the three topnotchers received P100,000 from CEC as an incentive for their outstanding performance.

For Labapiez, the road to the national rankings began with a simple inspiration-a teacher she admired and her own love for teaching.

She pursued elementary education because she wanted to follow the example of the teacher she looked up to and because, as she put it, ‘I love teaching kids.’

Her journey was also made possible through the Cebu City Government Scholarship Program, which allowed her to pursue college without a maintaining grade requirement.

As the eldest child in her family, Labapiez said one of her motivations was the desire to eventually help her parents shoulder the educational expenses of her two siblings.

Now that she has completed college and earned a place among the country’s top-performing examinees, she said she can begin fulfilling the promise she made to her parents.

Her message to other students is rooted in the fears and challenges she herself had to overcome.

‘Ayaw kahadlok sa inyong gustong makab-ot. Buhata ang tanan bisan nahadlok ka or ikaw ra usa, ayaw pagkawala sa paglaum [Don]t be afraid to pursue your dreams. Give it your all, even if you’re scared or have to face the journey alone. Never lose hope],’ Labapiez said.

Labapiez’s achievement was part of an unprecedented showing by CEC, which placed three graduates on the 2026 LET national Top 10 list. Junio secured third place, Daro ranked fifth, while Labapiez finished 10th.

The feat also marked the second consecutive year that CEC produced a topnotcher in the teacher licensure examinations, reinforcing the institution’s growing record of performance in teacher education.

CEC Board of Trustee member and Vice President Dwight Choachuy said the achievement demonstrates that a student’s potential should not be measured by financial circumstances.

‘Talent knows no economic status. Intelligence is not measured by one’s financial capacity. And greatness is never limited by the challenge of life,’ Choachuy said during the PACECGARBO program.

He also underscored the impact of scholarships, saying educational assistance can help students break cycles of hardship and create opportunities not only for themselves but for their families and future generations.

The defense panel of Vice President Sara Duterte objected on Monday to the prosecution’s use of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images to illustrate what P125 million in cash would look like during the 16th day of her impeachment trial.

Defense spokesperson lawyer Michael Poa questioned the accuracy of the AI-generated images, saying they may not faithfully depict the actual appearance or volume of the money involved.

The prosecution used simulated props and AI-generated imagery while questioning former Office of the Vice President special disbursing officer Gina Acosta about the withdrawal of P125 million in cash on Dec. 20, 2022.

Acosta testified that she and a colleague were responsible for withdrawing the amount.

‘We just had to really register our objection since alam naman natin ang AI sometimes does not really depict yung totoong itsura ng mga bagay,’ Poa said in a press briefing.

During the trial, private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan presented an AI-generated image to Acosta and asked her to compare it with the cash she had handled, prompting defense counsel Lindon Miguel Bacquel to object.

Ligutan later showed another AI-generated image depicting the money inside four bags after Acosta testified that she had brought four bags to carry the cash.

Poa said Bacquel was correct in maintaining the defense’s objection to the use of the images.

‘They just wanted to show some graphics para maipakita ang gusto nila, that’s why they want to use AI. Sa ngayon na-note naman ang aming continuing objection so that is enough for now,’ Poa said.

THE central bank said it will take into account in upcoming inflation forecasts the global oil prices and the potential impact of El Niño which may peak in the final quarter of 2026 until the first half of 2027.

During the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing before the House Committee on Appropriations on Monday, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Zeno Ronald R. Abenoja said the central bank will update its inflation forecasts in accordance with the ‘risk factors’ that it is currently tracking.

‘There are risk factors that we are looking at. One of them is the price of crude oil in the international market. Second, the potential effect of El Niño which the peak impact will be experienced in the fourth quarter of 2026 until the first half of 2027,’ added Abenoja.

‘Those are the other risk factors that the central bank thinks can affect inflation,’ he said.

Abenoja said the inflation forecasts would have to be updated at the upcoming rate-setting meeting of the Monetary Board (MB), the highest policymaking body of the central bank, as the current inflation forecasts were updated last June 18, the MB’s previous policy meeting.

As of the June 18,2026 monetary policy meeting, BSP sees headline inflation averaging at 6.4 percent in 2026; 4.5 percent in 2027 and 3.1 percent in 2028.

The target of central bank remains at 3-percent average inflation plus or minus 1 percentage point tolerance range.

The Monetary Board’s next scheduled rate-setting meeting is on August 27,2026.

At the DBCC briefing on Monday, BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. emphasized that, consistent with its mandate, ‘We worry about inflation because it diminishes the purchasing power of Filipino families.’

‘Low inflation also supports sustainable growth,’ Remolona pointed out.

The chief of the central bank said BSP is ‘encouraged’ to report that inflation has eased somewhat over the last three months.

However, he said inflation remains well above its target of 3 percent.

The BSP governor noted that the recent above-target inflation readings were due largely to global supply shocks and their spillover effects on prices in the domestic economy.

‘As you know, oil price shocks are not just about energy, they are also about food prices because oil is also the source of much of our fertilizer,’ Remolona explained.

As such, to contain price pressures, the central bank had to tighten monetary policy twice this year.

He said these were ‘carefully calibrated moves’ to help slow down inflation, anchor inflation expectations, while recognizing the ‘temporary weakness in growth.’

‘Over the medium term, we expect inflation to ease gradually. However, risks remain tilted to the upside,’ added Remolona.

As the monetary board is set to meet next week to decide on the next policy action, Remolona, who’s also the chairman of the MB, said: ‘We look at all evidence and we are prepared to take further steps as necessary to ensure that inflation returns to target.’