Category: Business Mirror

Threat actors are increasingly exploiting AI systems, development tools and software supply chains to launch faster and more sophisticated attacks, according to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

In a recent online briefing on the company’s latest Global Threat Report, CrowdStrike head of counter adversary operations Adam Meyers said organizations can no longer treat AI solely as a productivity tool and must begin securing it as a critical part of their digital infrastructure. ‘Securing AI is absolutely critical,’ Meyers said. ‘The expanding AI attack surface is being targeted by threat actors, ‘he said.

He noted that cybercriminals are attacking AI from multiple angles-from abusing AI-powered chatbots to consume costly computing resources to exploiting vulnerabilities in AI infrastructure platforms to deploy ransomware.

He said the growing use of AI-assisted software development has also created new risks for organizations. As developers increasingly rely on AI coding assistants, Meyers said the technology automatically downloads software packages and dependencies in real time to complete programming tasks. While this accelerates development, Meyers warned it also creates opportunities for attackers to poison software repositories or compromise developer accounts, allowing malicious code to spread quickly across organizations.

‘If you ask AI to code something for you, it’s going to start pulling down packages that it thinks it needs,’ he said. ‘That is happening with complete automation, and people are often not stopping to inspect those packages.’

According to CrowdStrike, recent software supply chain attacks have affected repositories that collectively recorded tens of millions of downloads each week, illustrating how rapidly malicious code can proliferate once trusted development channels are compromised.

The company also highlighted the growing role of AI in offensive cyber operations.

Meyers said threat actors, particularly those linked to China, are leveraging AI to accelerate vulnerability research and exploit newly disclosed software flaws in record time.

He noted that Chinese cyber groups have invested heavily in weaponizing vulnerabilities over the past several years, with AI significantly reducing the time needed to develop working exploits. ‘As we’ve seen with AI, it is extremely capable of helping find and exploit vulnerabilities, especially when information about those vulnerabilities is already publicly available,’ he said.

CrowdStrike warned that exploitation windows have narrowed dramatically, with some critical vulnerabilities being weaponized within hours of public disclosure. This leaves organizations with little time to respond using traditional monthly patching cycles.

‘The month-long patch cycle is obsolete,’ Meyers said, adding that companies should move toward automated remediation, accelerated patch management, and stronger exposure management to prioritize the most critical vulnerabilities.

Beyond securing AI applications, organizations must also strengthen the governance surrounding AI deployments.

Meyers said companies should view AI models as interchangeable components, placing greater emphasis on building secure ‘harnesses’ and operational controls around them rather than relying solely on the capabilities of any single model.

He cited CrowdStrike’s own experience, where applying the appropriate framework significantly improved the accuracy of AI-assisted vulnerability research by reducing false positives and producing more reliable results.

Open-weight AI models will also play an increasingly important role, he said, as organizations seek lower-cost alternatives to proprietary frontier models while maintaining flexibility to deploy AI securely for specific business functions.

Looking ahead, CrowdStrike expects more domain-specific AI models designed for specialized tasks, offering greater consistency and more predictable outputs.

The company urged organizations to complement AI adoption with comprehensive threat visibility, managed threat hunting, and stronger identity protection to prevent attackers from moving from compromised developer environments into enterprise cloud systems.

‘Threat actors continue to evolve and find new ways to attack,’ Meyers said. ‘Organizations need stronger guardrails, better intelligence and the right security controls to stay ahead.’ As AI becomes deeply embedded across enterprise operations, CrowdStrike said securing the technology itself must become as important as using it to improve productivity, warning that the organizations that fail to protect their AI environments could inadvertently provide cybercriminals with powerful new attack vectors.

THE Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) is set to add another European country to its growing list of international partners, Finance Secretary Frederick Go said on Friday.

Go did not identify the incoming partner, saying the country will be revealed during the first LEC Investment Forum scheduled for September 10 and 11 in Manila.

‘Last year, we had two partners in the Luzon Economic Corridor, the US and Japan,’ Go said in his keynote speech at the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines’ Economic Forum in Manila City.

‘Today, we have eight more partners in the Luzon Economic Corridor . . . And one more European country is set to become the newest addition to the LEC,’ he added.

The latest addition would bring the number of international partners beyond the Philippines, US and Japan to nine, while the LEC’s existing international partners are Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The corridor links Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas, connecting major manufacturing, logistics and trade centers.

The Philippines, US and Japan launched the corridor in April 2024 as the first Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment corridor in the Indo-Pacific.

The expanded partnership is expected to support infrastructure development through financing, technical assistance and private-sector investment in areas including transport, energy and digital infrastructure.

On the other hand, the upcoming investment forum is expected to bring together around 600 international investors, industry executives, project developers and government officials.

The three founding partners will co-host the event, which will feature infrastructure projects seeking financing and private-sector participation.

Discussions will cover advanced manufacturing, digital connectivity, energy, transportation and logistics, and private capital.

The US Trade and Development Agency, which is sponsoring the forum, said the event will also include project showcases, networking sessions and site visits to prospective projects in Subic Bay, Clark and Batangas.

The agency described the LEC as the country’s main economic corridor, with the four areas accounting for about half of the country’s economy.

For many seniors, the family home holds decades of memories-holiday gatherings, children’s milestones, quiet evenings with a partner. Moving to a smaller space or senior community can feel like leaving part of oneself behind. Yet downsizing does not require abandoning what matters most. With thoughtful planning, seniors can reduce square footage while carrying forward the items, stories, and comforts that define home.

Experts emphasize starting early. Give yourself at least three to six months-ideally longer-before a move. Rushing heightens stress and poor decisions. Professional organizers and senior move managers note that beginning the process while still healthy and independent allows more control and less emotional overwhelm. Measure the new space carefully and create a simple floor plan. Knowing exact dimensions of rooms, closets, and wall space prevents the common mistake of packing items that simply will not fit.

Work room by room rather than attempting the entire house at once. Begin with lower-emotion areas such as linen closets, bathrooms, or the kitchen pantry. Practical must-haves-everyday dishes, toiletries, frequently worn clothes-build momentum and decision-making confidence before tackling more sentimental spaces. Professional organizers recommend sorting into clear categories: keep, gift to family or friends, donate or sell, and discard. Avoid a ‘maybe’ pile; it merely postpones decisions and recreates clutter. The four- or five-pile method (keep, gift, sell, donate, trash) appears repeatedly in guidance from sources including US News and senior living experts.

Sentimental items pose the greatest challenge. Photo albums, letters, children’s artwork, heirloom furniture, and collections often feel inseparable from identity. Digitization offers a powerful solution. Scan or photograph photos, documents, and artwork; many services convert old media into digital files that fit on a small device or cloud storage. For collections-china sets, figurines, or sports memorabilia-keep the two or three most meaningful pieces and photograph the rest arranged as they once were. Framing a favorite letter or creating a digital photo book preserves the memory without consuming physical space.

Passing items to loved ones transforms loss into legacy. Invite family members to identify pieces they would value. Distribute heirlooms while you can still share the stories behind them. This approach, recommended by senior living resources, reframes letting go as intentional giving. One professional organizer notes that ‘honoring the item’ by recounting its history often makes parting easier. If adult children lack space or interest, consider donating to charities, historical societies, or community groups where the objects continue to serve a purpose.

Select ‘significant touchstones’-a favorite chair, a piece of art, a small collection of books or photographs-that will help the new space feel familiar and supportive of identity. Therapists and geriatric experts highlight that familiar objects provide continuity and can ease the transition, particularly for those concerned about cognitive changes. Focus on items used regularly or that genuinely spark joy rather than those kept out of obligation.

Professional help can make the process smoother. Senior move managers specialize in guiding older adults through downsizing with empathy and efficiency. In a YouTube video, professional move manager Theresa Brune of Simplify It, LLC, answers common questions about timing, mental preparation, planning, and estate sales, stressing baby steps and early action. Another useful resource is the PBS segment ‘Downsize to Rightsize,’ which profiles a senior move manager who helps clients turn overwhelming transitions into meaningful rightsizing after witnessing his own mother’s positive experience in assisted living. Videos such as ‘Senior Move Management Tips | How To Downsize and Declutter Without The Overwhelm’ and ’20 Tips for Streamlining Your Space in Retirement’ from the Sixty and Me channel offer practical, experience-based advice on layout awareness, emotional hurdles, and systems that work for older adults.

Involve trusted family or friends carefully. Their presence can provide physical help with lifting and an outside perspective on what is truly essential, but decisions should remain with the senior whenever possible. Listen more than direct. Share stories about objects as they surface; the reminiscing itself becomes part of processing the change.

Financial and practical benefits often follow emotional ones. Selling unused furniture, jewelry, or collectibles through estate sales, consignment, or online marketplaces can generate funds while clearing space. Reducing maintenance, utilities, and property costs frees resources for experiences, travel, or health needs. Many who complete the process later report greater freedom and less daily stress.

Downsizing succeeds when it prioritizes people and meaning over possessions. Digitize memories, gift with intention, keep only what serves the life ahead, and allow time for both practical sorting and emotional reflection. The result is not a diminished life but a lighter, more intentional one in which the things that truly matter-relationships, stories, and a sense of home-travel with you. With preparation and the right support, seniors can step into a smaller space that still feels completely their own.

WITH one of the most anticipated Marvel games this year, PlayStation is set to release a limited-edition console bundle and accessories for Marvel’s Wolverine.

One month after its presentation at San Diego Comic-Con, PlayStation revealed the first look at the PS5 Digital Edition-Marvel’s Wolverine Battle Yellow and Wolverine Adamantium Limited Edition bundles in a blog post, featuring a warmongering look at the console and DualSense controller.

First, the console wears Insomniac’s Battle Reborn suit and claws with Wolverine’s design, adopting its iconic yellow-and-black color scheme. Additionally, it takes the intense claw marks in the hood, highlighting one of Wolverine’s iconic marks. The DualSense controller, meanwhile, shares the same style but inverted. Its color scheme takes on black-and-yellow, still featuring the Marvel character’s iconic claw marks. The Adamantium design, inspired by the hero’s skeleton and claws, shares the same features, but would instead have a strong metallic finish. It wears a silver-and-black color scheme, inverted for its DualSense controller as well.

‘I wanted to show Wolverine at his fiercest for Marvel’s Wolverine Limited Edition PS5 Console bundle and accessories. I still draw all my artwork traditionally, so the opportunity to marry cutting-edge hardware with the energy and looseness of hand-drawn ink is incredibly exciting,’ said Jock, the graphic artist who designed the skin. Those who already own the PS5 Slim or PS5 Pro console may instead opt for its console covers, made available where direct.playstation.com is present. The Pro Covers and DualSense Wireless Controllers can also be bought separately.

There is no price yet for PlayStation 5 Digital Edition-Marvel’s Wolverine Battle Yellow Limited Edition Bundle in the Philippines so its availability remains uncertain. The PlayStation 5 Console Cover for Battle Yellow is priced at ?4,767 SRP, while the Adamantium variant has no price, making its availability uncertain as well. Meanwhile, the DualSense Wireless Controllers for both designs are priced at ?5,411 SRP.

Pre-orders will start on August 19 at 10 am local time.

On August 9, the 22nd People’s Ball honored 21 outstanding Filipino Americans and an organization at Newark’s Airport Marriott-evidence that Filipino America’s unglamorous, uncelebrated labor has been the load-bearing wall of this community for decades.

Once a year, the ritual reverses itself. The physicians, the diplomats, and the organizers who have spent careers deliberately out of frame are pulled forward and set, briefly, at the center of the room. This year, on August 9, the Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott hosted the 22nd iteration of that reversal, honoring 21 outstanding Filipino Americans-individuals, two husband-and-wife pairs, and one community organization-at a midday luncheon that behaves less like a gala than a family reunion that happens to have a printed program.

What distinguishes this year’s ceremony is the sheer density of history compressed into a few hours. Five decades of nursing innovation. Diplomatic postings spanning continents. A gelato chef trained in Italy. A community group that fed roughly 450 people through the worst of a pandemic. I have tracked a number of these names for years – watched the work accumulate long before any institution thought to attach an award to it – and reading through the full roster, a through-line emerges unmistakably: this is a diaspora fluent in loyalty to two flags at once, and unwilling to shortchange either. Fiesta Talks Magazine will carry the fuller version for its readership of more than 7,000.

The afternoon also received a genuine Broadway benediction. William Michals-who made his Broadway debut as the Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and later played Emile de Becque in Lincoln Center Theater’s Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific-performed alongside Desi Oakley, the original Jenna in the first national tour of Waitress, who later starred as Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway.

The patriotism on display here runs in two directions simultaneously, and nobody in the room treats that as a contradiction requiring resolution. This year’s honorees embody that duality precisely: a mayor who took his oath of office in a New Jersey borough hall and never once stopped calling Baler, Aurora home; a nurse who spent thirty years inside a New York City government office safeguarding the public health of the city that adopted her; a community that will mount a Sinulog procession one weekend and Jersey City’s largest Veterans Parade the next.

Diplomatic and Civic Leadership

Ambassador Senen T. Mangalile received the Diplomatic Excellence and Leadership Award. He has served as Philippine Consul General in New York since 2023 – a name I’ve tracked for years – and departs next for Cambodia as Ambassador. Mayor Arvin Amatorio, honored with the Distinguished Public Service and Community Leadership Award, has been Mayor of Bergenfield, New Jersey, since 2019, reelected unopposed. Pam Andes earned the Community Liaison and Public Service Award as scheduler for Jersey City Mayor James Solomon, having organized the city’s first Veterans Parade.

Health and Nursing

Dr. Elvy G. Barroso received the Distinguished Leadership Award in Tuberculosis Prevention after thirty-one years with NYC’s Bureau of Tuberculosis Control; her work has held my attention for a long time. Warly Remegio, DNP, RN, took home the Transformational Leadership in Nursing Education Award as System VP for Nursing Education at Hartford HealthCare and a 2024 Modern Healthcare 40 Under 40 honoree. Janet Mary Cuaycong was recognized with the Gerontological Nursing and Rehabilitation Care Award for developing the ‘STRIDE’ framework at Mount Sinai West. Dr. Jamille Nagtalon-Ramos received the University Healthcare and Leadership Award as a Rutgers-Camden scholar researching Filipina American reproductive health.

‘None of them were choosing one flag over the other. None of them had to.’

Daisy Briones Macadaeg, BSN, RN, earned the Legacy of Care and Compassion Award as a thirty-six-year ICU nurse at Englewood Health with a long record of medical missions in the Philippines. Edynne Baclay-Loquellano received the Nursing and Community Service Award as Assistant Director of Nursing and 2025 president of JCI Philippine-New York. Ramona Sansait Gapasin was honored with the Distinguished Community Builder Award as a fifty-five-year Medical Laboratory Scientist who leads the Ladies for Rizal New Jersey Chapter USA. And Dr. Francisco ‘Kits’ Reyes and Corazon ‘Cora’ Cajucom Reyes together received the Lifetime Empowerment Couple Award for Healing, Heritage and Humanitarian Service-a retired surgeon and a corporate nurse, both names dear to me well before this award reached them.

Education and Business

Rosemarie Espiritu-Parreño received the Lifetime Achievement Award after nearly six decades teaching, including three at CUNY, and a stint as a New York Times ESOL Teacher of the Year. Michael Molin earned the Banking Excellence and Cultural Impact Award as First VP and Retail Banking Branch Leader at Valley Bank, with twenty-five years advocating financial literacy. Senen Cabalfin received the Humanitarian Service and Community Leadership Award as a nurse turned entrepreneur building group homes for elders across New Jersey and Florida. And Myk Alba took the Business and Community Partnership Award as a pastor and marketer whose creative work has touched Apple Studios, Netflix, and Marvel.

Arts and Artisanship

Francia Michelle Magsaysay received the Culinary Artisanship and Cultural Heritage Award as an Italy-trained gelato master who now runs Francy’s Artisanal Ice Cream in Bergenfield. Marcos ‘Ping’ Panlilio earned the Creative Excellence in Sustainable Design Award after four decades in landscape architecture, now fashioning sustainable Filipiniana garments from reclaimed textiles. And Rosalinda Medina Rupel received the Civic Leadership and Community Empowerment Award as a former UNDP planner, librarian, and stage actress who now chairs PAFCOM’s board.

Stewardship and Community

Ria Serrano received the Intergenerational Impact Award as Executive Director of PACCAL, running wellness programming for elders and mentorship for young professionals. Airein and Glenn Butler earned the Philippine Environmental Advocates Award for spreading marine literacy through Beneath the Sea-Ocean Pals across the Philippines.

Bayanihan

Cebuanos Engaging in Building Unity, Inc. (CEBU Inc.) received the Bayanihan Award for running the pandemic-era Gasa sa Gugma program, which fed roughly 450 peopleSet the twenty-one names side by side and a pattern surfaces. Surgeon and nurse, diplomat and gelato chef, librarian-turned-actress and reformed landscape architect, banker and bureau official – the arcs never rhyme, and they were never meant to; each was assembled out of a different set of accidents, ambitions, and inherited obligations. And yet nearly every one of them has a moment where the path should have broken and instead simply changed direction: a career interrupted by illness, a homeland traded for an unfamiliar coastline, a profession set aside for something more urgent than the profession itself. The particulars differ from name to name; the underlying grammar does not. These are people who took displacement, disease, or grief – the raw, undignified material of a life disrupted – and built something load-bearing, something the rest of us have been quietly standing on for years without asking who built it.

There is a patriotism beneath all of it, and it is worth naming outright rather than leaving it as ambient texture. We tend to narrate the diaspora through its most visible exports – athletes on a podium, entertainers on a marquee, capital moving through a remittance line – because visibility is what journalism instinctively reaches for. What this roster actually reveals is quieter, less photogenic, and considerably more durable: a tuberculosis nurse decorated by both the CDC and the Philippine presidency, an honor that requires two governments to independently arrive at the same verdict about the same life; a mayor’s scheduler who organized a city’s first Veterans Parade, a gesture aimed not inward at her own community but outward, toward the servicemen and women who serve this country regardless of where their families once came from; a couple whose forty-year marriage has quietly supported causes on both sides of the Pacific, uninterrupted by distance or decade. Empowerment, as this event quietly insists on defining it, is not spectacle and was never meant to be. It is simply overdue credit, issued decades late, to people who never once mistook loyalty to one flag for a betrayal of the other – who understood, long before anyone handed them a plaque to confirm it, that devotion doesn’t have to be divided between two countries. It can be given fully to both.

The People’s Ball performs this same act every year, and its persistence is itself a kind of argument: it takes the unglamorous, uncompensated labor of holding a community together – the scheduling, the mentoring, the thirty-one-year tenures inside government offices nobody thinks to romanticize – and enters it into the record before it can dissolve into anonymity, the way most quiet labor eventually does. But the ceremony itself, the luncheon, the citations read aloud into a hotel ballroom microphone, is not where the real work happens. The real transmission happens elsewhere, in the room’s periphery, in the folding chairs at the back and the doorways near the kitchen: in the younger nurses, diplomats, and organizers standing at the edges, watching their elders receive applause for work that was never done for applause, quietly absorbing the one lesson this luncheon exists to teach-that patriotism, practiced twice over and sustained long enough without ever being asked to choose a side, eventually stops being a personal virtue and becomes, instead, something you hand down.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Eastern Visayas (Region 8), in collaboration with 143 local government units (LGUs) in the region, has released P1.59 billion in social pension funds to indigent senior citizens during the first semester of 2026.

Lawyer Jonalyndie Chua, DSWD-8 information officer, on Tuesday said the program benefited 267,003 senior citizens in the first quarter and 263,315 in the second quarter, with each qualified beneficiary receiving P6,000 for six months.

The beneficiaries are senior citizens who are not receiving a pension from the government or private institutions.

‘In line with Republic Act No. 11315, or the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Act, the DSWD has officially adopted CBMS data as the primary basis for identifying and selecting qualified beneficiaries of the social pension program. The transition supports the government’s commitment to utilizing updated, localized, and data-driven information in delivering responsive social protection services,’ Chua said in a phone interview.

The DSWD released the funds to LGUs through the Transfer of Funds (ToF) modality, under which the agency transfers the budget for social protection programs directly to local governments.

According to Chua, the arrangement allows for faster and more efficient distribution of stipends by reducing logistical bottlenecks.

‘Our LGUs are in a better position to distribute the assistance since they are aware of the situation in their localities, such as the distance of communities from the payout centers, availability of senior citizens and local events,’ Chua added.

Each qualified indigent senior citizen receives a stipend of P1,000 per month for the entire year, with the funds released quarterly.

Pursuant to the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens is a government intervention designed to improve the living conditions of poor older persons.

The assistance helps augment their capacity to meet daily subsistence and medical needs, reducing the incidence of hunger and helping prevent neglect, abuse, and deprivation.

In 2025, DSWD-8 released P3.31 billion in social pension funds to more than 276,000 senior citizens enrolled in the program.

The year was 1882. Our national hero Jose Rizal landed in Naples, Italy. It was his first time in Europe. I could imagine the wide-eyed look on his face and the sense of wonder he might have felt upon setting foot on European soil. He didn’t stay long in Naples, but it left an impression on him; the hustle and bustle of local life and the scenic views of the coastal city.

We can’t all be national heroes (maybe just the main character of our own stories), but we can still visit Naples and maybe experience the same sense of wide-eyed wonder as Jose Rizal.

Lively (or Chaotic?) Naples

I left Naples’ train station with a sense of excitement and wonder knowing that I’ll be visiting a new city. I’ve heard from other travelers how chaotic or in other peoples’ words ‘lived in’ the city was. I saw clothes hanging from the balcony or windows of someone’s apartment. Some buildings looked old and worn out, not really out of place when around centuries old churches or structures. There was also random vandalism on walls (on a side note: I think whoever made those felt like some master painter from the age of enlightenment or the Renaissance period, I’m projecting of course).

I wandered along the narrow streets and weaved in and out of alleys. People on bicycles and scooters whizzed by from the front and back without caring for the pedestrians they might run into. I might add that Italians are a jolly bunch. Boisterous conversations often took place (I had no idea what they were talking about) and I would hear people shouting at each other from their windows (I wasn’t entirely sure if they were arguing or not).

I’m not a big football fan, but I would casually look at the box score if the World Cup was on. However, the ubiquitous prevalence of Diego Maradona on walls and souvenirs was a pleasant surprise (sidebar: I didn’t know who he was until I visited Naples). I later found out he became the unofficial patron saint of the city (I saw a mural of him dressed like a priest), after bringing the city multiple championships. They embraced his working-class background and considered him as one of their own.

I sat down and ate a Neapolitan pizza at a restaurant I stumbled upon. I’ve met a few travelers that said they saw themselves living in Metro Manila and others saying the exact opposite. I’ve felt the same contradictory feelings many times over. I thought about how similar Naples was to Metro Manila with its mix of noise and chaos. Maybe I’m just projecting something I’m familiar with to feel a semblance of home or maybe we’re carrying a bit of home wherever we go.

Feeling Royal in Caserta

I looked for a day trip that’s close to Naples and discovered that the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Royal Palace of Caserta was approximately just under an hour away. I find castles fascinating to be honest. Come to think of it, the extremely rich haven’t changed much, some still like flaunting their wealth.

Architect Luigi Vanvitelli planned the castle in the 18th century. He followed the vision of Charles of Bourbon who wanted to have a castle that rivaled those found in Madrid and Versailles. The walk up to the palace did remind me of the one I visited in Versailles in France. The grand staircase with its statues and details elicits a sense of awe from visitors (myself included). The staircase doesn’t just connect floors, it’s meant for a dramatic/theatrical ascent.

Since I like watching movies, I discovered a few fun facts about the palace. Some movies that used this complex as a filming location include Star Wars Episodes I and 2, Mission Impossible III, The Two Popes, and Conclave just to name a few.

With more than a thousand rooms and a massive floor area, it’s improbable to see everything in one day. Some of the highlights of a visit include the Throne Room, Palatine Chapel, Hall of Astrea, and Rooms of the Four Seasons. One of the reasons people visit is the huge garden and park that surround the palace complex. Visitors can simply wander around the property after exploring the palace. The curated palace contrasts Naples’ beautiful chaos.

Naples and Caserta are possible destinations you can add during your first (or second or third or so on and so forth) visit. The chaos of Naples adds to its charm while the Caserta Royal Palace provides a contrast and break from the frenzy of the city. It’s convenient to get to either place by train from Rome. I recommend booking train tickets in advance to not only save money but to also get the schedule you want.

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is backing calls to open congressional bicameral budget deliberations to greater public scrutiny while seeking to further reduce unprogrammed appropriations below the level proposed for 2027.

At the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines’ forum on Friday, Budget Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon said the agency welcomes and supports efforts towards greater transparency in the bicameral process.

‘An open bicam would be consistent with the Department’s continuing push for a more transparent, accountable and participatory budget process,’ De Leon said.

Doing so would enable the public to better understand how decisions involving taxpayers’ money are made, he added. ‘When people can see how public funds are deliberated and allocated, we strengthen accountability and ultimately public trust,’ he said.

Last year, the bicam sessions on the P6.793-trillion 2026 national budget were live-streamed for the first time to the public.

During the sessions, lawmakers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate reconciled differences between the House and Senate versions of the General Appropriations Bill.

This week, the DBM submitted separately to both legislative chambers the proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

Next year’s proposed national budget is 6 percent higher than this year’s allocation and is equivalent to 21.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing, House Committee on Appropriations chairman, said the budget process will be transparent as all hearings of the committee and the Budget Amendments Review Subcommittee will be live-streamed.

‘We recognize that the conduct of the Bicameral Conference Committee ultimately rests with Congress, and we fully respect its constitutional authority, rules and procedures,’ De Leon said.

But should Congress decide to open the bicameral proceedings, he said DBM would provide technical information, budget documents and clarifications to ensure that discussions are accurate and accessible to the public.

‘For us, greater transparency strengthens, not complicates, the budget process. We have nothing to gain from making the budget difficult to understand,’ De Leon said.

Budget watchdog Social Watch Philippines has said that the bicam has gained a reputation as a ‘third chamber’ where new budget items are inserted without prior deliberation, including the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (Akap) allocations.

Bicam meetings have been notorious for new budget items being inserted without prior deliberation, as well as for inflating the contested unprogrammed appropriations.

De Leon said the DBM is open to further reducing unprogrammed appropriations, which amounts to P111.984 billion, or about 1.6 percent of next year’s proposed budget.

While there is no fixed floor for unprogrammed appropriations, De Leon said the government could bring the amount down further if it has enough fiscal space and if the project pipeline allows it.

‘The lower, the better,’ De Leon said, while stressing that the appropriate level would depend on the purpose and nature of the projects that need to be funded.

Unprogrammed appropriations are standby spending authorities approved by Congress that may only be used if specific legal conditions are met, such as the availability of additional revenues beyond projections or the realization of new loan proceeds. These funds are not automatically released and remain subject to strict rules and validation.

THE Philippines’s efforts to rein in its fiscal deficit are likely to plateau, as ‘ambitious’ revenue targets prove difficult to meet and mounting debt service costs eat up more government resources, according to BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.

BMI said in a report on Friday that it forecasts a ‘slow’ fiscal consolidation, with the budget deficit narrowing from 5.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026 to 5.1 percent in 2027-still in line with the government’s target.

‘Risks are tilted towards a wider fiscal deficit,’ it said, noting that revenue targets may prove ‘difficult to achieve’ despite the new tax reforms lobbied by the government.

The Department of Finance has proposed a comprehensive tax reform package, dubbed the ‘Progress Bill,’ which seeks to raise the personal income tax-exempt threshold and remove the minimum corporate income tax on small businesses, while increasing the excise taxes on sin products to offset revenue losses. This is expected to generate a net revenue gain of P47.9 billion annually over 2027 to 2030.

However, the measure has not yet been incorporated into next year’s P4.851 trillion tax revenue target.

‘The government’s tax revenue target appears ambitious at first glance,’ BMI said. ‘While easing inflation and higher Metro Manila minimum wages-which will reportedly benefit over 1.1 million workers-should support consumption and VAT collections in 2027, we doubt that this alone will be sufficient to hit the target.’

Still, the revenue-to-GDP ratio is seen to ease modestly from 15.8 percent of GDP in 2026 to 15.7 percent in 2027-also in line with the government’s target.

At the same time, debt servicing, which is becoming more expensive, is expected to strain government finances further as higher interest rates and a weaker peso push up costs, BMI said.

‘The gradual pace of fiscal consolidation will likely sustain this trajectory, consuming more resources that could otherwise be directed towards more productive spending,’ it added.

Budget documents showed that next year’s proposed allocation for debt servicing increased by 16.8 percent to P1.143 trillion from P978.7 billion under the 2026 enacted budget. This is significantly higher than the 6-percent growth in the overall budget worth P7.2 trillion.

BMI projects total government expenditure to decline to 20.8 percent of GDP in 2027 from 21.3 percent in 2026.

Economic services are proposed to receive the largest increase in the 2027 budget, while social services face a reduction. Defense spending growth is also set to moderate from the double-digit pace of the past three budgets.

‘Escalating tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea, especially with increasingly frequent and intense maritime incidents, strengthen the case for higher military outlays,’ BMI said. ‘Yet, defense spending growth is set to ease further in 2027, underscoring the difficult trade-offs imposed by limited fiscal room.’

‘Nothing wrong with having debts’

At a forum organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines on Friday, Budget Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon said the government remains committed to gradually reducing the fiscal deficit.

‘Fiscal discipline does not mean refusing to spend, but knowing where to spend, why we are spending, and what the Filipino people should get in return,’ De Leon said.

Despite debt servicing accounting for 15.9 percent of next year’s total budget, De Leon said, ‘there is nothing inherently wrong with a country having debts.’

‘Until the government can generate sufficient resources to fund investments and close our country’s infrastructure and development gaps, we will need to borrow,’ he added.

The debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 66 percent in the second quarter, the highest since 2004. This comes after public debt reached P19.065 trillion, while GDP grew by 2.3 percent.

‘What matters is that money is used for the right purposes and the government can repay it without compromising other essential programs and services,’ De Leon said. ‘Government programs, activities, and projects are not mere expenses, but investments intended to achieve a minimum required economic return.’

NEARLY two weeks ahead of its fourth rate-setting meeting for the year, the central bank said it is still keeping an eye on an ‘unpredictable opponent’ as it is currently caught in the middle of a weaker-than-expected growth rate and a dubious disinflation path.

At the Economic Forum hosted by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) on Friday, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. did not divulge what the Monetary Board intends to do at its upcoming rate-setting meeting as it still looking at several data points, including the price of oil, and sentiments of businesses and consumers.

Asked which data points are still being scrutinized apart from the latest inflation and gross domestic product prints, Remolona told reporters: ‘A lot. Sentiments. [There are several] data points.’

But depending on how strong the price pressure seems to be, the BSP governor said the central bank is looking at expectations, at how the other items in the [consumer price index] CPI respond to the continuing global shocks, adding, ‘that will affect our policy strategy.’

In terms of inflation, Remolona said the central bank cannot do very much about inflation arising directly from global supply shocks.

‘What we can do is try to temper inflation that is found in the second-round goods,’ he said, adding that the second-round effects of supply shocks are ‘very close’ to what core inflation is.

However, with weaker-than-expected growth rate, Remolona dropped a hint that the BSP may become less aggressive in terms of raising the policy rate in order to tame inflation.

‘So with the growth numbers and with the inflation numbers, I think we need a more convincing downard trend for inflation before we can relax,’ the chief of the central bank said.

‘Of course the weaker growth that we’re seeing means we can be less aggressive in trying to tame inflation. But in the face of an unpredictable opponent, oil prices for example, we need to keep our eye on the ball,’ Remolona pointed out.

In his presentation during the forum, Remolona admitted that the central bank was ‘disappointed’ when the 2.3-percent growth print was reported.

‘We were told that GDP growth in the second quarter of 2026 was 2.3 percent. [It was quite low, quite] disappointing and somewhat surprising,’ added Remolona.

The BSP governor bared that the 2.3-percent growth outcome in the second quarter of 2026 was way below the central bank’s 3.2-percent estimate, which, as it is, is ‘still weak’ because the potential growth of the Philippine economy is at 5.5 to 5.8 percent.

‘That means weak growth remains a consideration. I think that’s all I can say. I can’t tell you what we will do,’ added Remolona.

In an earlier interview with reporters, the BSP governor answered in the affirmative when he was asked if the pressure on the central bank to raise the key interest rate was reduced following the 2.3-percent GDP data release.

The BSP has raised the key interest rate by a total of 50 basis points since the start of the conflict in the Middle East on February 28, delivering two separate quarter-point rate hikes at the Monetary Board’s rate-setting meetings held on April 23 and June 18.

These policy actions brought the Target Reverse Repurchase (RRP) rate to 4.75 percent.

At its June 18 meeting, the Monetary Board decided that monetary policy tightening was ‘warranted’ to keep inflation expectations anchored and mitigate the risk of second-round effects.

‘The measured monetary policy action will also complement fiscal measures in supporting steady consumption and strengthening business sentiment,’ the central bank also said in a statement on June 18.