Category: Business Mirror

From an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo to a bronze in Paris, Nesthy Petecio has established herself as one of the most accomplished boxers in Philippine sports history. She now begins a new journey as an ArenaPlus ambassador.

Petecio joins a growing roster of ArenaPlus ambassadors that includes NBA legend Derrick Rose, PBA star Scottie Thompson, and professional golfer Miguel Tabuena, bringing her own brand of determination and championship pedigree to the family.

For Petecio, the partnership with ArenaPlus, the No. 1 PAGCOR-licensed online sportsbook in the Philippines, is an opportunity to connect with more Filipinos and inspire the next generation of athletes.

‘Unang-una po, nagpapasalamat ako sa ArenaPlus sa tiwala at sa opportunity na maging bahagi ng kanilang pamilya. Bilang isang atleta, malaking bagay po sa amin kapag may mga brands na naniniwala at sumusuporta sa mga Pilipinong atleta. Kasi hindi lang naman po medalya at panalo yung importante. Malaking bagay din yung malaman mong may mga taong naniniwala sa kakayahan mo at sa pinaghirapan mo,’ said Petecio.

‘Kaya excited din po ako sa partnership na ito, at sana, sa pamamagitan nito, mas marami pa tayong ma-inspire na mga Pilipino, lalo na yung mga kabataang may pangarap sa sports. Maraming salamat po sa ArenaPlus sa pagtitiwala.’

Petecio’s journey to Olympic success was far from easy.

Growing up in poverty in Davao del Sur, she and her siblings collected chicken droppings to sell as fertilizer to help their family make ends meet. She also joined inter-barangay competitions, where participants were given meals regardless of whether they won or lost.

What began as a way to help her family survive eventually became her path to a better future. Despite the hardships and challenges she faced, Petecio persevered, fighting her way from local competitions to the world’s biggest sporting stage.

She went on to win gold at the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Championships before making history at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she captured silver in the women’s featherweight division. At Paris 2024, she added a bronze medal, becoming the first Filipino boxer to win multiple Olympic medals.

Beyond her achievements on the world stage, Petecio also claimed gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games in 2019 and 2023.

‘We’re proud to welcome Nesthy to the ArenaPlus family. What makes her story so inspiring isn’t just the medals she’s won, but everything she had to overcome to get there,’ said Ethan William, Head of ArenaPlus, professionally known as Layson.

‘She came from humble beginnings, fought through setbacks, and never gave up on her dream. Today, she’s a two-time Olympic medalist who has made the entire country proud. We want to celebrate that kind of determination and inspire more Filipinos to believe that, no matter where they come from, their dreams are worth pursuing.’

Through its growing roster of ambassadors, ArenaPlus continues to build connections with Filipino sports fans and celebrate athletes whose achievements inspire the nation.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has declared a failed bidding for its prime property in Diliman, Quezon City.

The state firm received no offers during the bidding held last October 20, according to PSALM President Dennis Edward Dela Serna. ‘The three bidders who initially showed interest did not appear.’

PSALM will conduct another bidding, added Dela Serna.

The minimum bid price for the property is P11.09 billion. It consists of two lots covered by Title No. N-326294, with a total land area of 51,948 square meters. Of the property’s total 51,948-square-meter land area, an estimated 12,250 square meters have been excluded from the sale, leaving a net salable area of 39,698 square meters, together with the buildings, structures, and improvements located within such area.

The excluded areas include an estimated 5,000 square meters reserved for PSALM’s use and around 7,250 square meters occupied by the Systems Operation (SO) and National Control Center (NCC) facilities. Under its existing agreement with PSALM, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will continue using the NCC and SO buildings for transmission operations until January 15, 2034.

The bidding is open to qualified individuals, sole proprietors, cooperatives, corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, consortiums, government-owned entities, and local government units authorized to acquire and develop real property in the Philippines.

Private entities must be at least 60 percent Filipino-owned.

PSALM is in charge of liquidating the National Power Corp.’s (NPC) financial obligations, including stranded debts and stranded contract costs, by implementing an efficient liability management program that conforms to the provisions of Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

Last June, the state-run firm said its financial obligations at end-March this year went up to P297.64 billion from P260.6 billion at end-2025.

The 13-percent increase, according to Dela Serna, was primarily due to a P37-billion draw down in February in preparation for debt servicing requirements, particularly principal payments due in May and June amounting to approximately P168 billion.

Moreover, foreign exchange rate adjustments also contributed to the rise in the outstanding balance. ‘These factors temporarily elevated the reported debt level,’ said Dela Serna.

Smartphone photography is about to get more playful as vivo teases the creative camera features of its upcoming vivo V80, led by Creative Sticker Collage – an AI-powered tool that transforms everyday Live Photos into imaginative, moving compositions.

Set to launch in the Philippines on October 30, the new smartphone will introduce more ways for users to experiment with their photos, explore different styles, and bring their ideas to life straight from the camera.

With Creative Sticker Collage, users can turn their favorite people, pets, and moments into stickers, then combine them with other Live Photos to create scenes limited only by their imagination. A friend can appear riding a paper plane, a beloved pet can become larger than life, or an ordinary snapshot can become a playful creation worth sharing.

The fun does not stop there. The vivo V80 will also bring more AI-powered camera features designed to make creative photography easier and more accessible.

The AI Creative Camera lets users transform the lighting and atmosphere of their photos with a single tap. Styles such as Sunlight, Glow, and Top Lighting offer different ways to enhance a shot, helping users achieve studio-inspired effects without spending time adjusting multiple settings or editing images afterward.

For those who love a touch of nostalgia, CCD Flash Portrait brings a retro-inspired aesthetic to portraits. Combining flash fill-light with CCD-inspired processing, the feature aims to keep faces clear and skin tones natural while adding vintage colors and striking contrast. At night, it helps subjects stand out against a deeper background, creating portraits that capture both the person and the atmosphere of the moment.

These creative tools complement the vivo V80’s imaging system, which combines vivo’s imaging technology with ZEISS optics to deliver detailed portraits and videos across different scenarios. The smartphone features a 50-megapixel ZEISS OIS Main Camera with optical image stabilization, a 50-megapixel ZEISS Super Telephoto Camera, an ultra-wide-angle camera, and a group selfie camera, giving users more flexibility to capture everything from close-up portraits to group shots and wider scenes.

With its combination of ZEISS-powered imaging, playful photo effects, and AI-assisted creativity, the vivo V80 teases a camera experience that goes beyond simply taking pictures – giving users more ways to experiment, express their personalities, and turn everyday moments into something memorable.

This is only a glimpse of what’s in store. The vivo V80 is set to launch on October 30 at 6 pm, with the event livestreamed on the vivo Philippines Facebook page.

Tune in to discover the smartphone’s creative camera capabilities and see what else vivo has prepared for its newest portrait-focused device. Viewers can visit the page and click ‘Going’ on the livestream event so they won’t miss the reveal.

World Travel Expo (WTE) Year 10 opened at Ayala Malls Trinoma on October 23, 2026, marking the event’s first appearance at the Quezon City destination and bringing three days of travel discovery to Metro Manila.

Running until October 25, the event brings together participating tourism businesses and destinations, giving visitors an opportunity to learn about travel experiences and connect directly with the people who make them possible.

The Trinoma stop continues WTE Year 10 under the theme ‘Xtraordinary Journeys, Xceptional Memories.’ The event reflects the continuing role of personal connections in travel, allowing visitors to explore options and ask questions as they consider their next trip.

For Miles Caballero, Managing Director of World Travel Expo, bringing WTE to a new venue is an opportunity to meet another community of travelers and help more people discover the experiences available to them.

‘At its heart, World Travel Expo has always been about people. It is about the destinations that inspire us, the communities that welcome travelers, and the individuals who work behind every experience that makes a journey memorable,’ Caballero said.

The event also provides participating exhibitors with an opportunity to introduce their offerings to visitors and establish connections that may continue beyond the three-day gathering.

With Trinoma hosting WTE for the first time, this leg expands the event’s presence in Metro Manila and gives Quezon City residents and nearby communities a convenient opportunity to explore travel ideas.

Visitors can experience World Travel Expo Year 10 at Ayala Malls Trinoma from October 23 to 25, 2026.

The event welcomes travelers who are ready to plan their next holiday, as well as those who simply want to explore new possibilities and find inspiration for a future journey.

Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad), the private water concessionaire for the West Zone, announced the completion of a P200-million pipe replacement project in Las Piñas City, upgrading more than 23 kilometers of aging pipelines to improve water pressure for around 50,000 customers.

The project replaced 23.11 kilometers of old, leaky, and undersized pipes ranging from 75mm to 300mm in diameter.

These upgrades enabled the recovery of about 3.73 million liters per day (MLD) of water, supporting Maynilad’s ongoing efforts to reduce system water losses and improve overall network efficiency, Maynilad said.

The upgrades have improved water pressure in the project areas, increasing water pressure from around 4 pounds per square inch (psi) to 16 psi. At this pressure, water can reach up to the third storey of a structure without the need for a booster pump, depending on the building’s elevation and internal plumbing conditions.

The project benefits customers in barangays Manuyo Dos, Talon Singko, Talon Uno, Talon Tres, and Pulang Lupa Dos.

The Las Piñas pipe replacement project forms part of Maynilad’s Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Management Program, which focuses on reducing water losses and improving system efficiency through the establishment of District Metered Areas (DMAs), advanced network diagnostics, active leak detection and repair, pipe replacement initiatives, and strict meter management.

‘By replacing aging, leaky, and undersized pipelines, we are strengthening our distribution network to better accommodate growing demand while ensuring the continued delivery of safe, reliable, and sustainable water services,’ said Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez. ‘These investments are essential to improving system efficiency and reducing water losses across our service area.’

Maynilad operates the largest water concession by population served within a single concession area in the Philippines. It is a concessionaire of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (certain portions), Quezon City (certain portions), Makati (west of South Super Highway), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon, all in Metro Manila; the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the municipalities of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite Province.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. witnessed the various affordable housing options showcased at the 2nd National Housing Expo 2026, where he personally toured the booths and viewed model housing units presented by partner developers, alongside Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary and Pag-IBIG Fund Board Chairman Jose Ramon P. Aliling and Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene C. Acosta.

More than 30,000 home seekers attended the two-day Expo held Oct. 19-20 at the SMX Convention Center Manila, where over 80 partner developers offered more than 50,000 housing units to choose from, along with exclusive Expo offers, more affordable prices and other incentives for aspiring homeowners. With affordable financing through the Pag-IBIG Housing Loan, more Filipino families had the opportunity to choose homes suited to their needs and financial capacity.

As part of the continued advancement of President Marcos’ Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (Expanded 4PH) Program, DHSUD, Pag-IBIG Fund, the government and the private sector continue to work together to bring affordable, quality housing within reach of more Filipino families.

THE Department of Finance (DOF) is seeking to file a bill with Congress this year to grant a general tax amnesty to taxpayers with unpaid tax liabilities.

On the sidelines of the recent ‘SGV Tax Symposium 2026,’ Finance Undersecretary for Revenue Operations Group Rolando U. Ligon Jr. told reporters that the DOF is currently fine-tuning the draft bill.

‘We still need more information to make sure that the amnesty will be successful. We need to address the additional taxes that we need to collect,’ Ligon said.

‘Hopefully, we will be able to file it within a year. So that at least, it’s filed already. Then, next year, the hearings will start,’ he added.

The general amnesty is part of tax reform measures that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced in his recent State of the Nation Address.

Marcos said the amnesty will cover unpaid estate taxes, income taxes, donor’s taxes and value-added taxes (VAT). It will also include the penalties and surcharges associated with outstanding tax obligations.

The government’s previous estate-tax amnesty covered the estates of people who died on or before May 31, 2022. Its availment period ended in June 2025.

Last year, the DOF proposed a GTA to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Delinquent taxpayers would be allowed to choose between the two computation methods, subject to minimum payment amounts depending on their taxpayer classification.

For individuals, the minimum payment would be 5 percent or P75,000, whichever is higher. Corporations would pay minimum amounts ranging from P100,000 to P1 million, depending on subscribed capital.

Meanwhile, Ligon said the DOF is also open to establishing a voluntary disclosure program for imported automobiles for which importers underpaid or failed to pay the required taxes.

Ligon said there are no guidelines yet for that, but the DOF is studying the plan at the moment. ‘Right now, it’s a very rough draft.’

The DOF has proposed before the inclusion of VAT and excise taxes on importation, with or without assessments duly issued, collected by the Bureau of Customs.

SENATE President Sherwin Gatchalian has firmly rejected negotiations with the armed group allegedly harboring Sen. Ronald dela Rosa in Mindanao, insisting the government must not yield to unauthorized force.

Gatchalian made the statements after Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla said that law enforcement authorities are seeking to negotiate the turnover of dela Rosa-the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant-to avoid a violent clash. Remulla warned that a direct confrontation could cost ‘up to 10,000 potential deaths,’ though he did not provide a basis for that figure.

‘If this is an armed group, they are not authorized to possess weapons,’ Gatchalian said. ‘We should not be negotiating with them, because they certainly should not be more heavily armed than the government.’

While cautioning against negotiating with unauthorized groups, Gatchalian acknowledged the delicate nature of the situation and deferred to the DILG chief’s tactical judgment.

‘The most important thing is for the situation to remain peaceful and orderly. We want to avoid any incidents or accidents,’ Gatchalian added, steering clear of explicitly echoing Malacañang’s call for dela Rosa to surrender.

Dela Rosa is wanted by the ICC over alleged crimes against humanity linked to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly anti-drug campaign. Duterte is currently detained at The Hague, the Netherlands, awaiting trial.

As Duterte’s first National Police (PNP) chief, dela Rosa implemented the ‘drug’ war that resulted in the killing of some 3,000 to 30,000 suspected drug traffickers, almost all of them mere users and small time pushers.

The language that’s known as the backbone of the internet is now subject to what experts describe as one of the most notable vulnerabilities in recent memory.

PHP is a widely used general-purpose scripting language that is geared toward web development, and thus, it powers the majority of websites around the world. When the organization behind the language and the FBI’s cyber division warned Wednesday of significant vulnerabilities in the language, government agencies, corporations and other organizations were sent into a flurry.

The episode also highlights how artificial intelligence is changing the game when it comes to web security.

Here’s what to make of the discovery of the vulnerabilities and the fallout.

The vulnerabilities opened sites to a host of potential security concerns

The official website for PHP and several other organizations and agencies released security advisories Wednesday urging PHP users to patch two critical vulnerabilities or shut down their sites if they couldn’t update them immediately.

The PHP Foundation, which works to provide transparency and accountability with the language, said the vulnerabilities could be exploited and allow bad actors to get unauthenticated access to sites running PHP.

This would mean attackers could control a web server remotely without needing a password, said James Sullivan, director of cyber and tech at the Royal United Services Institute in London. That could allow a hacker to steal data, alter data or use the system as a platform from which to launch other attacks, he said.

Exposure is vast, and some sites are still down

PHP powers about 70% of websites globally, so the possible exposure to vulnerability was immense.

The language is free and open-source, which contributes to its prevalence online. PHP is behind the content management systems WordPress and Drupal, which are commonly used by governments for their sites, and MediaWiki, the software that runs Wikipedia.

In accordance with the security advisories issued this week, several websites were taken offline to prevent exposure while they fixed the problem. There has been disruption to some government services and websites, including in the United Kingdom, Finland and Japan.

Some websites may still be down because there are multiple patches available for different types of software, and some organizations may still be waiting to receive them. They also need to be tested to make sure they work.

Charl van der Walt, the head of security research at Orange Cyberdefense, said he believes the reaction to the vulnerabilities is just the ‘early tremors’ of the disruption they could cause in the weeks and months ahead. He said there likely will be further service disruptions as bad actors scan the internet for vulnerable systems.

The issues may have been lying dormant

The vulnerabilities have been known about since at least 2024, according to the PHP Foundation. A security team developed several competing approaches to solutions, but each had downsides. It seemed there wasn’t a practical or concrete way attackers could exploit the vulnerabilities, so progress on a fix stalled, the foundation said.

The group took responsibility for not coming up with a fix sooner, saying: ‘We won’t pretend otherwise: the delay was a structural failure, caused by both the security team’s decision process and its lack of resources.’

Some experts say the discovery of the vulnerability could have been even earlier than 2024.

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The AI cat-and-mouse game between attackers and defenders persists

Although humans first discovered the vulnerabilities, artificial intelligence agents helped to identify how they could be exploited, and also supported the process of testing and validating the fixes. In a blog post, OpenAI said it had led a coalition of researchers, security providers and others to address vulnerabilities in PHP over the past two months. Researchers at Wiz, a cloud security platform, also said they independently used AI to identify the vulnerabilities.

The accessibility of AI means that many organizations big and small now have more advanced ways to proactively and reactively respond to security threats. But it also means bad actors have more advanced ways to exploit digital weak points, and at great scale and speed.

‘It’s not quite as easy for defenders as it is for attackers,’ van der Walt said. ‘You find the vulnerability in something. You replace it. But with what? Is there an alternative that is patched and robust and tested and approved?’

Sullivan, of the Royal United Services Institute in London, said while the push-and-pull can be worrisome, he’s focused on the positive side.

‘We’ve actually seen quite a decent use case here where AI can discover some critical vulnerabilities and then the community can come together to remediate them,’ he said.

THE number of housing units licensed for sale this year is expected to reach a five-year high as the government expands its housing assistance programs, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) said.

Housing Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling said the projection was based on the monthly average of housing units that applied for and received licenses to sell (LTS) in 2026.

‘If we base our projection on the monthly average of housing units that have applied for and been issued licenses to sell, this year will record the highest number of units issued licenses to sell since 2022,’ Aliling said during the second National Housing Expo.

Data from DHSUD showed that the agency was processing applications covering about 197,000 housing units as of September 28. Of these, around 117,000 units had qualified following evaluation.

Another 34,000 units were still under evaluation within the agency’s 15-day review period, while applications covering 31,000 units had been issued notices of deficiencies for compliance by developers.

The agency had denied applications covering about 13,000 units, equivalent to a denial rate of 6.7 percent.

Based on the applications being processed and the denial rate, the DHSUD expects to issue licenses covering more than 200,000 housing units by year-end, which would be the highest annual total since 2022.

Aliling attributed the outlook partly to the Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program, which provides housing options for Filipinos across different income levels.

Under the expanded program, households that cannot yet afford to buy their own homes may access the Enhanced Community Mortgage Program, rental housing, and temporary shelter for families affected by disasters.

‘Since we expanded the housing options under the 4PH program, more Filipinos have benefited from it. The program’s name, Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino, has become more fitting because we now have programs for every Filipino who aspires to live in a decent and safe home,’ Aliling said.