Category: Business Mirror

DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur-The country is now developing its own combat prowess against emerging pollutants, particularly invasive microplastics, as well as evolving contaminants, as researchers at this state university have installed key gadgets and technology to protect humans and the environment.

Professor Kris Kristofferson T. Tan, head of Mathematics and Arts and Sciences at Davao del Sur State College (DSSC), showed the BusinessMirror on Thursday the machines and gadgets acquired from Japan to establish Mindanao’s 16th laboratory in the network funded and supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Inside the Research Center for Emerging Pollutants (RCEP) were the Microplastic Automated Preparatory Device, the first of its kind in the country that extracts, collects and filters water sample the volume equal to glass of water; the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer, or FTIR, which identifies the sampled pollutants from its own library of organic molecules; and the Ultra-Low Freezer, which can turn in as low as 80 degrees below zero degree to preserve biological samples.

All were recently acquired from the DOST fund of P5 million that also signified its approval to the RCEP.

Tan said the laboratory has been the product of the research work put up by his staff with multidisciplinary talents, including one chemist, two biologists with postgraduate expertise in microbiology and microplastics.

DOST Regional Director Anthony Sales, who also sits in the board of directors of the DSSC and in the board of other state universities and colleges in the Davao Region, has assured Tan that the RCEP will expect three plantilla positions for researchers.

Tan said the RCEP was developed from the array of suggested environmental issues to develop a science laboratory, and said the pestering and unaddressed environment pollution and contamination led him and his team to confront the issue.

He said the province, as well as the entire Davao Region, has its decades-long grapple with improper disposal of wastes from commercial agriculture, mining and urban and rural industrial operations. ‘Their disposal had river beds and sea floors contaminated with mercury, arsenic and other heavy metals. Even that simple but definitely destructive disposal of batteries contaminates the environment with lead,’ Tan said.

‘This laboratory here is actually against emerging pollutants, like the microplastic pervasive intrusion into the water and marine life ecosystem, and the evolving contaminants, like bacterial and heavy metal contamination of the environment,’ he said.

Engineer Niñaliza Escorial, deputy executive director of the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) told via online the opening of the RCEP that the laboratory becomes significant in the middle of disturbing findings that 16 of the 25 drinking water sources of Davao del Sur show coliform bacteria contamination and all the sources failed the microbiological testing.

She said that the Digos River also contained cadmium and chromium levels that exceeded tolerable level, and microplastics were detected int eh marine gastropods in the mangrove system of neighboring Santa Cruz.

This means, he said, that this laboratory ‘is not only for this province but for the entire region.’

Dr. Ruby Raterta, chief of PCIEERD’s Human Resources and Institutional Development, said the RCEP is the latest addition to the 70 DOST-supported science laboratories in the country and the first Institution Development Program of DOST on emerging pollutants.

‘We hope that this laboratory will produce bigger research projects,’ she said.

Sales said the RCEP ‘is a crucial development in advancing science in the area’ and talked with Tan to have a possible profiling of bottled water that were being marketed and manufactured in the region ‘because it has been a wider knowledge now that even drinking water contains microplastics, which have also invaded the food and water chain’.

‘Let the RCEP be the beacon of scientific inquiry,’ Sales said.

Escorial urged the DSSC to work with the local governments, the water district, environmental agencies, schools and the communities.

The Philippines, one of Israel’s longest-standing allies in Asia, joined more than 70 countries in a mass walkout during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday, according to Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Enrique Manalo and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

As Netanyahu approached the rostrum, the General Assembly chamber erupted in a mix of applause, boos and coordinated walkouts. Scores of diplomats filed out of the hall, leaving large sections of the chamber noticeably empty.

‘Order in the hall, please,’ General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman repeatedly appealed as delegates exited.

Netanyahu responded defiantly.

‘If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left this hall, please do so now,’ he said.

While the UN’s live television feed showed numerous empty seats throughout the session, camera angles did not fully capture the section where the Philippine delegation was seated.

Asked by BusinessMirror whether the Philippines had joined the walkout, Manalo replied simply: ‘Yes,’ declining to elaborate further.

The DFA later confirmed the move, saying it was consistent with the Philippines’s position on the Middle East peace process and its concerns over developments in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

‘Yes, the Philippines joined the walkout in global solidarity for peace in the Middle East and the call for all parties to desist from unilateral actions that erode the conditions for peace and undermine the viability of a future Palestinian state,’ DFA spokesperson Analyn Ratonel told the BusinessMirror.

‘The Philippines is deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and notes with alarm Israel’s efforts to advance the E1 settlement plan and the continued rise of settler violence in the West Bank. These actions are detrimental to finding a just, lasting and comprehensive solution to the Middle East conflict.

The Philippines has always supported the two-state solution as the viable path to peace in the region.’

The Philippine participation in the walkout was notable given the historically close ties between Manila and Jerusalem.

The Philippines was among the few Asian countries that welcomed Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution during World War II under President Manuel L. Quezon.

In 1947, it became the first Asian country to vote in favor of United Nations Resolution 181, which recommended the partition of Palestine and paved the way for the creation of the State of Israel.

The two countries have maintained warm relations for decades, with Israel often describing the Philippines as one of its closest friends in Asia. The special relationship has also been reflected diplomatically. For several years, the Philippine ambassador served as dean of the diplomatic corps in Israel, representing the collective interests of foreign envoys accredited to the Israeli government.

Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported that countries participating in the walkout included Trkiye, Palestine, Tunisia, Syria, Algeria, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, Qatar, Lebanon, Malaysia, Indonesia and Kuwait.

Delegations from Spain, Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Nigeria, Ghana, Libya, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Oman, Niger, Madagascar, Botswana, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Cabo Verde and several other countries also either walked out or remained absent from the session.

The Iranian delegation reportedly left a photograph of Qassem Soleimani, the slain commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, on its table before departing.

According to Anadolu, the United States, Germany, Argentina, Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, Czechia and Greece remained in the chamber during Netanyahu’s address. Delegations from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which normalized relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords, also stayed in their seats.

China, which has repeatedly criticized Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, was represented by a lone diplomat.

Other countries present during the speech included Australia, Austria, Canada, Portugal, Poland, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Iceland, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Kenya and El Salvador. Al Jazeera separately reported that Ethiopia, Italy, Finland, Senegal, Mozambique and Somalia also remained represented in the hall.

The walkout left visible gaps across the General Assembly chamber and underscored Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation as the Gaza war enters its third year and international divisions over the conflict continue to deepen.

Despite the walkout, the Israeli leader pressed ahead with his address, dismissing allegations of genocide as ‘the biggest lie of the century’ and defending Israel’s military operations against Hamas and Iran.

‘In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall,’ Netanyahu said.

‘In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran’s nukes.’

Netanyahu argued that the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel, left his government with no choice but to wage war against the militant group.

The Israeli leader also defended attacks against Iran, predicted the eventual collapse of the Iranian government, and dismissed criticism over Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.

His appearance came after days of speeches by world leaders condemning Israel’s conduct in Gaza and accusing his government of undermining prospects for a Palestinian state.

ANGELES CITY-Overstressed columns and piles were the highly probable main cause of the collapse of a building under construction in barangay Balibago that killed 30 people on May 24, according to the final report of the Angeles City Fact-Finding Task Force.

City Attorney Darwin Reyes said the findings were based on technical assessments, expert opinions, project documents, site inspections and laboratory test results.

Structural models generated from documents submitted for the project showed that the size, number and material properties of the columns and piles were insufficient to carry the loads imposed on them, resulting in a progressive collapse, the report said.

‘Our findings are based on expert engineers on the subject. So nag-rely kami sa findings nila,’ Reyes said.

The task force also found that the columns had been designed to resist gravity loads only, when they should also have accounted for lateral displacement in both directions.

Construction alterations further contributed to the collapse, Reyes said. A post-collapse inspection found additional steel beams and floor framing that added weight but were not included in the original design, the report said. The task force also cited construction methods and detailing errors as contributing factors.

City Administrator Noel Luzung said the final report was delayed partly because the task force had to consolidate findings from other government agencies, including the Departments of Labor and Employment and of Public Works and Highways.

Luzung also cited the southwest monsoon and the fire in Pampang market as among the factors that affected the timing of the report.

DPWH analysis remains pending

REYES said testing conducted by the DPWH was put on hold amid a separate investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation, leaving the DPWH analysis pending.

‘Doon sa mga tests na pina-evaluate sa DPWH, na-hold iyon dahil sa simultaneous investigation made by the NBI,’ Reyes said. ‘So, hindi muna sila naglabas ng analysis report, that’s why hindi namin masabi kung may substandard materials doon sa steel na nagamit.’

Reyes said the NBI report would also be significant in evaluating the cause of the collapse. The pending DPWH analysis will supplement the task force’s technical findings, he said.

‘It will help supplement the final report but it will not alter the findings,’ Reyes said. ‘So mas pagtitibayin lang nila ang findings on technical aspects.’

Reyes also said the task force’s final report found no markings of the type investigators were looking for, although he said the matter could still be determined.

Labor, safety violations

THE Dole ordered contractor Golden Years Construction and Steelworks Corp. and the building’s owner, Ernest Jackson Lim, to pay P11.43 million in workers’ monetary claims and administrative fines over labor and occupational safety violations.

The investigation found labor standards and occupational safety and health violations.

The report cited violations involving 57 workers, including nonpayment or underpayment of wages, rest-day premiums and holiday pay, resulting in over P1.1 million in assessed monetary deficiencies.

Violations involving safety controls, permits and inspections, safety personnel and training, supervision and worker welfare facilities were also cited.

These resulted in P10.3 million in administrative fines, including penalties related to alleged misrepresentation or inauthentic safety and first-aid certificates, according to the report.

Five criminal complaints involving about eight or nine individuals have been filed, Reyes said.

Separate labor cases had also been filed by workers against Lim and Golden Years. A nearby property owner had also filed a complaint for reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property.

Assistance

LUZUNG said the city government would shoulder structural assessments for affected buildings to determine whether they should be condemned or what their status should be.

‘Merong tulong na ibinigay o ibibigay ang local government sa pag-conduct ng assessment sa building nila,’ Luzung said. ‘Sasagutin ng LGU ang assessment ng building kung i-condemn na ba or kung ano ang magiging status.’

He said affected property owners could use the fact-finding report in pursuing possible claims for damages.

‘Itong report na ito ay pwede nilang gamitin basehan if interesado silang mag-pursue ng cases for damages against the owner or sa contractor,’ Luzung said. ‘And we will provide them with documents, evidence or information na kailangan nila.’

The city government incurred expenses amounting to P9.6 million for the rescue, watch, retrieval and clearing operations following the building’s collapse, the report said.

Reyes said the city would also review building permit and construction regulations and introduce measures aimed at preventing a similar incident.

Sony Group Corp. is skipping the CES technology show in 2027, ending a decades-long presence at the Las Vegas electronics showcase in favor of a growing focus on entertainment content.

Neither Sony, whose products were first displayed at the inaugural conference in 1967, nor its affiliates plan to exhibit at CES in January, a spokesperson said, confirming an earlier report by the Nikkei. The PlayStation creator did not have its own booth at the show earlier this year, but its joint venture with Honda Motor Co. displayed the Afeela electric vehicle, a joint venture that has since been scrapped.

The decision to skip CES entirely will reconfigure the show floor at the world’s highest-profile gathering for consumer electronics. Sony has long occupied one of the largest booths at CES, and even as Japanese peers reduced their footprint, it remained a mainstay and attracted large crowds with its keynote events.

Sony also synced up with the broader trend across CES toward the automotive sector, using the show to promote its collaboration with Honda to jointly develop EVs. That project-one of Sony’s most prominent attempts to explore a new platform for content and AI-powered services-unraveled this year and the two companies said they would reassess the future of their joint venture, established in 2022.

‘We continuously and strategically evaluate our approach to events and communications based on the needs and priorities of our diverse business,’ Sony said in a statement. The company’s focus continues to evolve toward entertainment, intellectual property and technology geared to support creators, it said.

Sony’s business has shifted increasingly toward games, music and film, reducing the importance of CES as a venue to display its strategy. The company remains a key supplier of image sensors used in automobiles, and executives have argued that vehicles could eventually help create new forms of entertainment inside cars.

NAGOYA-The Philippine esports team Sibol take on an Asian Games challenge without the benefit of playing beyond the realms of the Southeast Asian region.

The team plunges into the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) on Tuesday at the Aichi Sky Expo with head coach Allec Alvarado acknowledging that launching their Group C run against Jordan at 2 p.m. and Kazakhstan at 5 p.m. presents unique challenges due to the unfamiliarity of non-SEA styles.

‘Against Jordan and Kazakhstan, there could be new meta heroes, unfamiliar play styles, and strategies we’ll need to adapt to on the fly,’ Alvarado noted ahead of the opening matches.

‘Especially since we haven’t had the chance to scrimmage against teams outside of the SEA region, Day 1 will definitely test us,’ he added.

Despite the opening-day hurdle, Sibol enters the tournament aiming for a top-podium finish to extend the Philippines’s dominance after capturing the last six MLBB world titles. Alvarado emphasized that the team is embracing the immense expectations as fuel rather than pressure.

‘I think that’s just part of being at the top,’ Alvarado added. ‘We just have to embrace it, use it as motivation, and learn to see the pressure in a positive way.’

Sibol features a star-studded lineup anchored by two-time M-Series World Champion Karl ‘KarlTzy’ Nepomuceno.

The 22-year-old superstar, the only player to win world titles under two different organizations (Bren Esports at M2 in 2021 and ECHO at M4 in 2023), is joined by Team Liquid PH teammates Sanford ‘Sanford’ Vinuya, Alston ‘Sanji’ Pabico, Dave ‘Teddy’ Viana, and Jaypee ‘Jaypee’ Gonzales.

Completing the roster is veteran gold-laner Duane ‘Kelra’ Pillas of ONIC Esports, who previously suited up for Execration, Omega Esports, and ONIC Philippines.

THE Philippines called for stronger maritime security and greater international cooperation to safeguard critical maritime infrastructure, arguing that threats to seafarers and commercial shipping have become direct threats to global trade, supply chains and human security.

Addressing the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Teresa Lazaro underscored the contribution of migrant workers and seafarers to the global economy while calling for stronger protection of their rights and welfare.

Lazaro noted that nearly 90 percent of world trade is transported by sea and supported by close to two million seafarers worldwide, more than 25 percent of whom are Filipinos.

‘They are essential workers, yet increasingly vulnerable to conflict and attacks at sea,’ Lazaro said, citing a recent incident in the Strait of Hormuz that claimed the lives of Filipino seafarers and injured others.

‘Their tragedy reminds us that maritime security is human security,’ she added.

The Philippines has become increasingly vocal on maritime security as Filipino seafarers continue to bear the human cost of conflicts in some of the world’s most critical shipping routes.

Across the Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz and Black Sea, at least nine Filipino seafarers have been killed in recent maritime security incidents linked to armed conflicts and geopolitical tensions, government reports indicate.

Lazaro said that for the Philippines, an archipelagic and maritime nation, the safety of ships and seafarers cannot be separated from supply chains and global commerce.

‘Open and secure seas, free from interference and coercion, are vital to our security, our economy and our people,’ she said.

Lazaro reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to international law, describing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) as the ‘constitution of the oceans.’

She noted that 2026 marks a decade since the landmark 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, which remains final and legally binding and demonstrates how international law provides peaceful means for states to clarify rights and settle disputes.

‘The Philippines stands firm in its conviction that disputes must be resolved through diplomacy and law, not violence and might,’ Lazaro said.

She also called for efforts to protect maritime security to extend beyond shipping lanes to critical maritime infrastructure, including undersea cables, strategic sea lanes, ports and offshore facilities that underpin global trade and connectivity.

Rather than waiting for threats to emerge, states should work toward a framework anchored on Unclos that establishes clear rules, rights and obligations governing critical maritime infrastructure, she said.

The proposal comes amid growing concerns over attacks on commercial vessels and the vulnerability of maritime infrastructure crucial to global commerce, energy flows and digital communications.

STATE-run lender Small Business Corp. (SBCorp) will roll out financing for electric-vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure by early 2027, expanding its existing EV loan program.

SBCorp President and CEO Robert C. Bastillo said the financing would cover charging infrastructure for transport cooperatives and transport management companies, which typically need terminals and charging facilities alongside their EV fleets.

‘For now, it’s the transport cooperatives that are making sure that they have a terminal, and the transport management corporations,’ Bastillo said partly in Filipino on the sidelines of an event in Makati City last Monday.

Financing for EV parts, meanwhile, would generally be handled by suppliers, he added.

The BusinessMirror was told that SBCorp has financed more than P100-million worth of EV-related businesses. In addition, the primary lender for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs has allocated up to P200 million for EV-related financing in 2026 and is preparing the amount for release.

The financing push comes as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), SBCorp’s parent agency, seeks to widen access to funding for businesses transitioning to electric transport.

Complementing deal

TRADE Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque has said she sees her department’s agreement with Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) as complementing SBCorp’s program by opening financing opportunities to larger companies and transport operators.

The DTI’s e-transport loan program through SBCorp provides MSMEs with a one-year grace period without principal and interest payments, Roque said.

The Trade Secretary told reporters that tricycle and ride-hailing drivers as among those covered by the program, as well as operators of government-supported electric buses.

The department is now looking to work with other financial institutions to accommodate businesses that fall outside SBCorp’s target borrowers, Roque said.

‘But they need a lot of funding, so it’s good for us to also work with other banks so that we can encourage or we can actually get more people to onboard the shift from the combustion vehicle to the electric vehicle,’ she added.

The DTI-PVB partnership signed last Monday focuses specifically on EV financing. Per the trade agency, the arrangement is intended to help operators cope with volatile gasoline and diesel prices while giving larger companies another financing option for fleet electrification.

Strong demand

BASTILLO said while demand for EV financing has been strong, some borrowers still encounter hurdles in meeting requirements.

The main requirement for transport operators is a ‘Certificate of Public Convenience,’ he said adding that delays can occur when franchises expire and operators have to go through the renewal process.

Some applicants also need assistance with the online application process, prompting SBCorp to provide in-person support at its offices, Bastillo said.

‘This is like a classic government-private sector collaboration,’ the SBCorp head said. ‘We’re not competitors of the private sector. We’re just supposed to provide the initial funding.’

The best of Negros is in Manila-and visitors still have until September 27 to experience it. BÚTLAK: The 40th Negros Trade Fair is now open at SMX Convention Center Aura, bringing together more than 178 brands from the Negros Island Region for six days of food, fashion, art, home, crafts, and travel discoveries.

Presented by the Association of Negros Producers (ANP) in partnership with SM Supermalls through SM for MSMEs, the milestone edition celebrates 40 years of Negrense creativity and enterprise while creating fresh opportunities for local businesses to reach a wider market. Opening the fair, Joaquin L. San Agustin, Executive Vice President for Marketing at SM Supermalls, welcomed entrepreneurs, artisans, partners, and guests to a celebration that goes beyond shopping. ‘We are not simply opening another trade fair. We are celebrating 40 extraordinary years of Negrense creativity, enterprise, heritage, and community,’ San Agustin said. For SM Supermalls, the partnership reflects the purpose of SM for MSMEs: helping homegrown businesses gain access to more customers, greater visibility, and bigger opportunities to grow. ‘Every purchase does more than bring home a piece of Negros,’ San Agustin added. ‘It supports a local business, celebrates Filipino creativity, and helps another entrepreneurial story move forward.’

Come hungry, leave with a story

The opening days have already drawn enthusiastic crowds, with visitors discovering familiar favorites and new reasons to return. Cocina Javellana, Chicken House, and Wawa Bing’s Kitchen were among the early crowd favorites, with their popular offerings quickly selling out. Across the fair, visitors can still explore a rich selection of local coffee, artisan chocolate, heritage chorizo, cheeses, pastries, pantry staples, and other distinctly Negrense finds.

For National Artist for Design Patis Tesoro, Grand Dame of Philippine Fashion, ‘Negros is very into handicrafts, into natural things, and I think this fair supports that, and also continues our traditions. The fair is doing well, it’s only the first day and it’s already crowded.’

For Maritess Sanchez of El Ideal, a heritage brand that has been part of Negrense food culture for nearly a century, the fair remains a vital way to connect with customers beyond the province. ‘We have been around for about 100 years because we never sacrificed quality,’ Sanchez said. ‘The Negros Trade Fair has helped us expand our reach here in Manila.’

The discoveries continue beyond the table. BÚTLAK offers contemporary fashion and accessories, handcrafted furniture and homeware, art, gifts, and travel experiences-each carrying a different story of Negros.

For Mariel San Agustin of Domesticity, the fair provides meaningful market access for products made by the organization’s beneficiaries, with proceeds supporting its continuing values-formation programs. ‘The Negros Trade Fair has given us an avenue to introduce Domesticity to a bigger market, especially here in Manila,’ she said. ‘SM has opened up bigger opportunities for the fair, especially here in Aura.’

At The Little Vintage Shop, purpose is stitched into every upcycled piece. Co-founder Frannie Manotoc shared how the brand gives donated clothing a renewed life while helping support women and children. ‘It is like giving abused women and children a second chance, much like the chance given to the clothes donated to us,’ Manotoc said.

For participating local governments, the fair is likewise an opportunity to share a fuller picture of Negros. Jerick Lacson of Sipalay City noted how the trade fair has helped broaden the city’s product showcase over the years. ‘When we joined four years ago, we had to decide on only a few products to sell and showcase,’ Lacson said. ‘Now, our good problem is figuring out how to fit all our products into our booth.’

Forty years rooted in heritage, still blooming

For ANP President Christina B. Gaston, the fair’s four-decade legacy is ultimately about creating room for people, ideas, and businesses to grow. ‘For ANP, MSME development is about giving people the opportunity to discover what they can create, what they can become, and where their creativity can take them,’ Gaston said. ‘Over 40 years, we have seen small businesses grow into enterprises and local products reach markets once thought beyond their reach.’

The anniversary theme, BÚTLAK, speaks to that continuing journey: traditions and skills passed down through generations, now blooming through new ideas, new entrepreneurs, and new audiences.

Whether visitors come for a beloved food favorite, a statement piece for the home, a thoughtful gift, or simply the joy of discovering something new, BÚTLAK offers a chance to meet the people and stories behind the products.

For decades, we have asked local governments to stand at the front lines of public service.

When the river rises, it is the mayor who must evacuate families. When the health center runs short, it is the municipality that hears the complaint. When a farm-to-market road becomes impassable, when a bridge gives way, when drinking water becomes scarce, Manila can seem very far away.

Responsibility has long been decentralized but resources have not always followed. That is the more useful context in which to examine the controversy surrounding the proposed P58.53-billion Local Government Support Fund for 2027. And what Executive Secretary Ralph Recto is set to do is to prove that the fund can be accessed fairly, monitored properly, and used for projects that communities can actually feel. In this respect, Executive Secretary Recto’s role in translating presidential direction into an operational system is crucial.

The Philippines has more than 1,700 local government units and over 42,000 barangays. Yet the words ‘local government’ conceal enormous differences. A prosperous city with office towers, shopping centers, subdivisions and a large tax base possesses revenue-generating capacity that a fourth- or fifth-class municipality simply does not have.

A remote agricultural town may confront typhoons, damaged roads, inadequate water systems and distant health facilities while drawing revenue from an economy barely large enough to support them. Thus,the unfinished business of Philippine decentralization under the Local Government Code is to recognize the entitlement of local governments to a share in national revenues as per the Mandanas-Garcia ruling.

That is where a Local Government Support Fund can perform an important function. Not as political largesse. As equalization. The distinction matters. The expanded LGSF launched earlier this year was built around the proposition that local governments are closest to the problems of their communities. The proposed 2027 allocation of P58.53 billion would continue support for local infrastructure and social-development requirements, particularly in areas where regular local resources are insufficient.

The Department of Budget and Management says requests for financial assistance are submitted directly by LGUs through its Ugnayang Bayan Portal and evaluated according to prescribed requirements. DBM also says it deals directly with local chief executives rather than intermediaries.

Those safeguards are important. But in the present atmosphere, the government should go further. If the administration wants to demonstrate that the LGSF is an instrument of development rather than patronage, then sunlight should become part of its architecture. Publish the applications as well as the criteria and the approvals and rejections.

Publish the amount received by every province, city and municipality, the project for which it was requested, the date the money was released, the project’s implementation status and, eventually, what the money produced. Then put the information on a dashboard that any citizen can inspect.

A farmer in Pangasinan should be able to see what his municipality requested. A teacher in Samar should be able to compare what her town received with similarly situated municipalities elsewhere. A journalist should be able to determine whether assistance consistently follows measurable need-or political geography.

That would change the argument. The question would no longer be whether somebody in Manila favored one mayor over another. The numbers themselves could answer it. There is an even larger principle at stake.

Decentralization should not mean transferring responsibilities downward while keeping opportunity concentrated upward. A municipality cannot build a water system with autonomy. It cannot repair a bridge with constitutional language. It cannot equip a health center with a mandate.

Eventually, somebody has to provide the resources. And because the economic geography of the Philippines is profoundly unequal, the national government will sometimes have to place more resources where local capacity is weakest. That is not necessarily patronage. Properly designed, it is what equal citizenship requires.

The child living in an isolated municipality should not inherit poorer public services merely because businesses, tax revenues and infrastructure accumulated somewhere else. Neither should the farmer be condemned to a broken road because his municipality lacks the fiscal muscle of Makati, Cebu or Quezon City.

This is why the debate over the Local Government Support Fund should not end with whether P58.53 billion is too large. The more consequential question is whether every peso can be made traceable from the national treasury to the community it was meant to help. That is what Executive Secretary Ralph Recto aims to do.

Keep the support. Remove the mystery. And perhaps decentralization will finally begin to mean not merely bringing government closer to the people, but bringing opportunity closer as well.

The Forest Foundation Philippines (FFP), National Power Corporation (Napocor) and WWF-Philippines conduct a one-day learning trip inside the Angat Watershed Forest Reserve, culminating in a tree-planting activity with various organizations and stakeholders.

The initiative aims to build partnerships and encourage volunteers to support watershed conservation and reforestation for Metro Manila’s water security.