Category: Philippine Star

A China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel ‘intentionally rammed’ a ship of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) about 54 nautical miles off the coast of Palawan on Friday, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela said the CCG vessel struck the BRP Datu Magat Salamat at around 11 a.m. while the Philippine vessel was conducting a fisherfolk assistance mission.

‘It was not a collision. It was an intentional ramming done by the CCG-21585,’ Tarriela said.

Tarriela said the BFAR vessel was carrying out a mission to provide fuel subsidies and food packs to Filipino fishermen in the Kalayaan Island Group following weeks of monsoon rains.

‘The objective of the BFAR deployment is purely humanitarian. It is not conducting operations that provoked anybody or any state,’ he said.

The contact damaged the main railings on the starboard side, metal stanchions and support structures as well as deck fixtures and equipment. No injuries were reported.

‘Even after the collision, CCG-21585 conducted yet another dangerous maneuver, passing dead astern at a distance of only about five meters,’ Tarriela said.

‘This kind of behavior of the Chinese government is an outright violation of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention and the collision regulations,’ Tarriela added.

The Chinese embassy, however, disputed the Philippine account, saying the incident was a collision caused by the BRP Datu Magat Salamat after it ignored warnings from the CCG vessel and accelerated after altering its course.

The BRP Datu Magat Salamat was refloated Thursday after running aground at Hasa-Hasa Shoal during its operations.

Tarriela said it would be docked at Coron Port for an assessment of its seaworthiness.

He said the CCG’s 215 series consists of smaller, faster and more agile vessels capable of intercepting ships in the West Philippine Sea.

The decision on whether to file a diplomatic protest will be left to the Department of Foreign Affairs, while the PCG would continue supporting the remaining BFAR vessels in their supply missions to Filipino fisherfolk.

In 1998, I was so new in the coffee industry and did not know where to start connecting with farmers. I was only exposed to Silang, Cavite then, so I joined the Coffee Foundation of the Philippines on their trips with the agency most concerned about coffee, Dept. of Trade and Industry-International Coffee Organization Certifying Agency or DTI-ICOCA. We paid our way to find farms and meet farmers; with my business partner we traveled to Benguet and Bukidnon with this motley group of coffee advocates.

Almost 30 years later, today we find Bukidnon to be more accessible as you can drive from Davao or fly to Cagayan de Oro’s Laguindingan airport. The roads are good, long and winding, taking you to the famous Kitanglad and its neighbor Kalatungan. In between these two majestic mountains are coffee areas, one near Lake Napalit and one closer to Kitanglad.

Many years ago, Sumilao town had a processing area for exportable coffee. That has since stopped operations but Bukidnon still became a destination for coffee because of Monk’s Blend, a famed coffee brand popularized by the Benedictine monks in Malaybalay. The brand reached supermarkets and I saw they had a professional roasting machine, at least to make assorted beans taste better than what the market had then. Today, we have many micro roasters preparing coffee to your taste – medium or dark roast, and of different varieties.

Bukidnon has always remained special to me – as this was where I first met Father Colombano who asked me to stay for vespers, where you hear a pin drop as everyone kneels in silent prayer at the Monastery of the Transfiguration. On first Sundays, they have a community breakfast where you get to meet the priests and monks on their monthly socials with visitors from far and wide.

I got the chance to see their coffee facility many years back – a German-made Probat roaster when the coffee trade was not yet as exposed to better equipment. Think circa 2000s, which was a long time ago. This is why Monk’s Blend became such a revered brand – with a story and good coffee to boot.

Today, as road networks improved, we found ourselves visiting Bukidnon more frequently, sometimes as tourists, sometimes as trainers and most of the time as friends of many village elders and IP communities. We have also started a partnership with Xavier Science Foundation to plant coffee in the lands reachable only by foot and cared for by local cultural communities.

What is the secret to Bukidnon’s appeal as a tourist destination and as a place for relaxed community work and advocacy? The weather is wonderfully cool and balanced – with some rain in the afternoons but sunshiny mornings. The restaurants and hotels have kept pace with development of local tourism. We keep discovering new cafés and food joints, we like to shop at roadside stalls for fruits, corn and other native products. Traveling back to Davao, you can find a Michelin-featured restaurant called Pilgrim. Traveling to Misamis Oriental (about an hour’s drive) you can find Don Narciso Café. And traveling in and around Valencia and Malaybalay, there are many places to stay overnight and then continue on with your road trip the next day. Bukidnon is also famous for the Del Monte farm where steaks have a pineapple hint of flavor, they say.

In 2003, we found a school that needed help in the Miarayon area. Lately, I found out that the schoolchildren we once supported are now either in college or are taking their master and doctorate degrees already. That wonderful news was sent by Gina Alfonso of Cartwheel Foundation who we worked with 20 years ago in Miarayon, way before today’s coffee fame. The secret’s out – coffee from these parts tastes very good, especially if farmers are trained in post-harvest processing.

This is why a sustainability plan for Bukidnon or for each coffee-growing province is key. Sometimes a national program is just too far to reach so a localized plan works for these coffee origins that are far from each other.

Bukidnon is also known for dairy as they pride themselves in having livestock and good grass that cattle feed on. There also are organic farms in and around as we visited Down To Earth farms as well as discover new sources of adlai, the grain that diabetics prefer for its lower glycemic index. Many years back adlai was sold at just P6/kilo and sold as food for hogs. Not anymore. Health conscious diners and progressive chefs started using the grain in risotto, arroz caldo and now many provinces have started to grow adlai or Job’s tears. Farmers found a premium market for what was once hog feed.

Bukidnon is known as the food basket of Mindanao and was the largest contributor to the gross value added to agriculture forestry and fishery (AFF) in 2024. Its contributions to the AFF has been going up, surpassing that of 81 provinces and 33 highly urbanized cities, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Can you imagine what a rich province can contribute to sustainability of coffee, among other crops? It also does not experience as much weather changes like typhoons as it is a landlocked area.

You may want to explore what Bukidnon has to offer, other than coffee, pineapples and sugarcane. For me, I treasure all the memories and hope to make more trips for the sustainability of not just the coffee but every sector of agriculture.

University of the Philippines remained unblemished in the UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball tournament after grounding the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 94-75, Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

This is UP’s seventh straight win in the Battle of Katipunan, stretching back to UAAP Season 86.

Former NCAA Finals Most Valuable Player James Payosing powered UP with 16 points, three rebounds and two assists. Veejay Pre and Rey Remogat had 14 markers apiece, while Francis Nnoruka finished wirth 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Ateneo was able to build a substantial lead in the first half, going up 37-30 after a triple by Travis Roberts.

But an 11-0 run, capped by a split from the line by Rainer Maga, pushed UP ahead 41-37.

Ateneo still took the lead in the third quarter, going up 47-46, but from that point on, it was all Fighting Maroons.

A 12-2 run capped by a Rey Remogat layup helped UP take a 58-49 lead.

An and-one play by Jared Bahay made it a 52-58 deficit, but UP found a higher gear.

A Roberts jumper made it a 61-73 deficit for Ateneo, before a 22-4 run capped by a slam by Russel Ogana, made it a 90-65 lead as UP tightened up on defense while getting their way on anything they wanted.

Gani Stevens had nine points for UP. Ogana added seven off the bench.

Jared Bahay carried the Blue Eagles with 17 points, three assists and two rebounds. Kieffer Alas, who had 10 points in the first half, had 13 after almost 25 minutes of play.

The Fighting Maroons are now holding a 2-0 win-loss record, while Ateneo dropped to 1-1.

Mastercard has launched a new suite of payment services to help digital wallets expand across borders and connect to more merchants, with GCash among the participating providers through its partnership with Alipay+.

The Mastercard Wallet Pay portfolio supports online, QR code and contactless payments, while helping wallet operators offer cards and facilitate money transfers without major changes to their existing infrastructure.

The initiative aims to improve interoperability, or the ability of different wallets and payment networks to work together, so consumers can use their payment apps across more merchants and markets.

Joyce Bo, Mastercard executive vice president for core payments in Asia-Pacific, said the next stage of digital wallet growth would depend on expanding their usefulness across payment systems and markets.

‘The first chapter of digital wallets was adoption. The next chapter is interoperability at scale. As wallet ecosystems mature, the challenge is extending their reach across more merchants, use cases and borders,’ Bo said.

‘Mastercard Wallet Pay helps wallet providers expand what they can offer, from cross-border payments to card issuing, without having to build all of that connectivity themselves.’

For wallet providers, the portfolio offers access to Mastercard’s network of merchants and digital payment channels. It also supports the launch of credit, debit or prepaid card programs.

Mastercard said the services would allow more than 3.7 billion Mastercard credentials, the payment details associated with its cards, to connect to digital wallets.

Its money movement capabilities facilitate transfers between cards, wallets or accounts across more than 200 countries and territories and in 150 currencies.

The announcement did not specify a Philippine rollout date or identify which Wallet Pay features would be available to GCash users.

‘GCash has always aimed to uplift the lives of Filipinos through accessible financial tools,’ said Ren-Ren Reyes, president and CEO of G-Xchange, the mobile wallet operator of GCash.

‘Through the Alipay+ and Mastercard partnership, we can extend secure global acceptance and new digital experiences to our users, reinforcing our leadership in payments.’

Alipay+ connects more than 50 e-wallets and banking apps as well as over 10 national payment schemes worldwide. Apart from GCash, its partner wallets involved in the initiative include AlipayHK, Clip, KakaoPay, TNG eWallet and TrueMoney.

Other participating payment providers include Axian, CRED, DaviPlata, Mercado Pago, MTN and TenPay Global.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) cannot verify the asylum status of former congressman Zaldy Co and former presidential spokesman Harry Roque in Europe due to the region’s strict privacy regulations.

During the DFA’s budget hearing yesterday, Senate foreign affairs committee chairman Sen. Erwin Tulfo pressed Foreign Affairs Secretary Tess Lazaro on whether countries like France notify the Philippine government when a citizen applies for asylum.

‘Mr. Chair, the European Union, France included, has very strict privacy issues. So if he has filed for asylum, we will not be given information because this is their law,’ Lazaro explained.

She noted that the Philippine embassies are denied this information upon inquiry, adding that the same restrictions apply to Austria regarding Roque’s status.

The DFA only learned of Co’s whereabouts through a tip from another European official.

‘I think in the past, we only learned that Mr. Co is in France because it was mentioned to me by the minister of… Czech Republic,’ Lazaro told the panel.

‘The foreign minister told me, he was taken and was already in France. That was the only information,’ she added.

When Tulfo asked if the DFA could confirm reports that Roque’s asylum bid in Austria was denied, Lazaro reiterated that the Philippine embassy in Vienna has ‘no information at all’ due to the host country’s basic tenets of strict privacy.

To address these legal barriers, Lazaro stated that the DFA consistently requests three key agreements during bilateral political consultations: extradition, transfer of sentenced persons and mutual legal assistance.

However, she admitted that the Philippines currently lacks these specific treaties with the European countries involved.

The Philippines knows the loss and cost of disasters. In October 2023, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Mindanao, affecting more than 1.6 million people, damaging over 113,000 homes and displacing more than 92,000 residents. Infrastructure damage reached P1.3 billion, while agricultural losses were estimated at P29.8 million, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

Such disasters can quickly and profoundly reverse decades of development gains. Beyond destruction and damage, their impact on sectors such as health, education and transport, as well as on tightly connected supply chains and rapidly growing urban areas, can turn one shock into cascading social and economic disruption. Repeated shocks, often intensified by climate change, are also stretching communities, local capacities and financing resources.

Resilience is therefore not only a humanitarian or environmental imperative. It is increasingly an issue of economic security, sustainable development and regional stability.

The ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Disaster Resilience, held in Metro Manila on September 15 to 16, provided an important opportunity to strengthen regional cooperation and exchange experience on disaster risk reduction and management. Across Southeast Asia, countries face similar pressures: denser cities, exposed coastlines, climate-related hazards, and economies linked through food systems, logistics, labour mobility and trade. A disruption in one place can affect livelihoods, prices, services and supply chains beyond the area first hit, including across borders.

The Philippines brings considerable experience to this regional conversation, starting with its institutional architecture for disaster risk reduction and management. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, supported by the Office of Civil Defense, provides a platform for coordination across national government agencies, local governments and other partners. This structure gives the country an important basis for aligning preparedness, response, recovery and long-term risk reduction.

This institutional framework is matched by an evolving policy setting. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan provides the overall framework, while its Midterm Review and the Accelerated Disaster Resilience Action Plan, or ADRAP, offer an opportunity to accelerate coordinated and accountable implementation, sustain momentum, focus collective efforts, and further connect resilience with public finance, infrastructure, land use, social protection and local governance.

Science and technology can change how countries see, anticipate and manage risk, in the Philippines and across ASEAN. Hazard mapping, early warning platforms, geospatial data and interoperable digital systems can help make risk visible before losses occur, identify exposed communities, guide contingency planning and support faster decisions during emergencies. The development of a Digital Readiness Strategy Operational Plan with the Office of Civil Defense, the Department of Science and Technology and other government agencies can help unlock the growing role of digital systems in resilience. When these tools inform budgets, infrastructure, land-use decisions and local preparedness early enough, they can help prevent risk from becoming loss.

The local level is where this agenda is tested and sustained. Local governments make many of the decisions that determine how risk is managed: where development takes place, how infrastructure is built, how communities are informed and how essential services continue during emergencies. Through the Strengthening Institutions and Empowering Localities Against Disasters and Climate Change, or SHIELD Programme, supported by the Australian Government, UNDP is working with national and local partners country-wide to connect risk-informed planning, science-to-practice tools and local resilience financing. It has supported local governments in using climate and hazard information for investment decisions, preparing bankable resilience proposals and developing tools that help identify public, private and blended sources of financing. This experience can be relevant to other countries in Asia and the Pacific, including ASEAN Member States, as they seek to connect local risk reduction, science and financing more effectively.

For ASEAN, resilience is increasingly a regional development issue because risks move across borders through people, markets, infrastructure and ecosystems. Strengthening national systems, using science more effectively and investing in local preparedness can therefore contribute not only to safer communities, but also to more stable and connected regional development.

The Philippines smashed Syria, 3.5-.5, to remain undefeated and keep its chances of finishing in the top 10 afloat after two rounds of the 46th World Chess Olympiad at the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Mhage Sebastian, trusted upon to man the top board despite being an Olympiad rookie, continued her strong showing, winning her second straight match, this time over Woman FIDE Master Roula Mahmoud.

Also coming through were WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda and WFM Shania Mae Mendoza on boards three and four, respectively, while WIM Ruelle Canino was held to a draw by WFM Manar Khalil on second board.

The win kept the Filipinas, whose trip is bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission, in a heavy 44-nation logjam at No. 1, which included defending champion India, with four match points apiece.

The Filipinos, in contrast, ran into seventh seed Azerbaijan and fell, 1-3, with IMs Pau Bersamina and Jem Garcia the only players who escaped with draws on boards two and four.

President Marcos has no plans of stepping down, Malacañang said yesterday, after the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte said she is ready to replace him in case he resigns.

‘First of all, no one is going to resign,’ Palace press officer Claire Castro told GMA News.

Castro was responding to Duterte’s spokesman, Paolo Panelo, who defended the Vice President amid criticisms that her call for Marcos to resign was self-serving as she would benefit from it.

‘That’s just their wish, because the President is fulfilling his duties and working for the country, the nation and the people. So, if they wish for the President to resign, I’m sorry,’ Castro said.?

She also denied the Duterte camp’s allegations that the administration is controlling senators, the police and other government officials in connection with the Vice President’s impeachment case.

Castro said government agencies are simply carrying out their respective mandates.

Panelo earlier said Duterte was elected as the Vice President ‘so, she was actually the one the people voted for to replace the President if he would resign. So, I don’t think this is self-serving or, as some might say, a conflict of interest.’

‘Because for her and for many Filipinos, it’s not really good for the country for the President to remain in office,’ he said.

Duterte has declared her candidacy for the 2028 presidential elections.

The Vice President earlier branded Marcos as the ‘problem of the nation,’ accusing his administration of corruption, abuse and political harassment amid the cases filed against her and members of her family.

‘Let’s continue the clamor for our nation’s problem to leave, whose name is Bongbong Marcos. Resign! Leave!’ Duterte told her supporters at a recent rally at Quezon City Hall.

Marcos responded to Duterte’s attacks against him during an interview in New Delhi, India last week after attending the 18th BRICS Summit.

‘If she feels very angry, I suppose, with what’s happening to her, and I am the target of that anger, or the main target of that anger, what can I do? You cannot force anyone to love you,’ the President said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) has given the green light to the initial public offering (IPO) application of Mynt Inc., the parent company of e-wallet giant GCash.

Mynt’s IPO, which marks a significant step in the company’s role in shaping the nation’s digital financial landscape, is expected to be the largest IPO in the country’s history, eclipsing Monde Nissin’s P55.89 billion IPO in 2021.

‘We welcome this highly anticipated IPO, which is poised to set the record as the largest public offering in PSE history,’ PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said.

‘I hope this landmark listing will pave the way for more fintech and digital economy firms to go public and raise capital through the equities market,’ he said.

Mynt is set to offer 8.03 billion primary and secondary common shares consisting of up to 1.61 billion primary shares and up to 6.42 billion secondary shares, with an overallotment option of up to 1.20 billion secondary common shares.

It plans to list on the PSE’s main board under the trading symbol GCASH on Oct. 20.

The shares will be sold at a price of up to P10 apiece during its Oct. 6 to 12 offer period.

The final offer price will be determined on Oct. 1 after the company conducts its bookbuilding exercise.

At an offer price of up to P10 per share, the IPO could raise gross proceeds of up to P92.3 billion if the overallotment option is fully exercised.

However, its price is currently seen hovering between P7.50 and P8.50 per share, below the maximum P10 offer price indicated in the company’s prospectus.

Proceeds from the sale of its primary shares will be used for digital financial services growth initiatives, product development and general corporate purposes.

Monzon said he is optimistic that Mynt’s market debut would drive strong market activity ahead of the fourth quarter.

‘Considering that the IPO subscription will also be made available through GStocks in the GCash app, we expect to see a significant uptick in new retail investors,’ he said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission cleared Mynt’s IPO earlier this month, making it the country’s first IPO of the year.

Mynt has tapped BPI Capital Corp. and BDO Capital and Investment Corp. as domestic lead underwriters and joint bookrunners.

Jefferies Singapore Ltd., CLSA Ltd. and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. Singapore Branch will serve as international joint bookrunners.

Morgan Stanley and Co. International PLC, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, UBS AG Singapore Branch, meanwhile, will act as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners.

The Philippines knows the loss and cost of disasters. In October 2023, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Mindanao, affecting more than 1.6 million people, damaging over 113,000 homes and displacing more than 92,000 residents. Infrastructure damage reached P1.3 billion, while agricultural losses were estimated at P29.8 million, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

Such disasters can quickly and profoundly reverse decades of development gains. Beyond destruction and damage, their impact on sectors such as health, education and transport, as well as on tightly connected supply chains and rapidly growing urban areas, can turn one shock into cascading social and economic disruption. Repeated shocks, often intensified by climate change, are also stretching communities, local capacities and financing resources.

Resilience is therefore not only a humanitarian or environmental imperative. It is increasingly an issue of economic security, sustainable development and regional stability.

The ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Disaster Resilience, held in Metro Manila on September 15 to 16, provided an important opportunity to strengthen regional cooperation and exchange experience on disaster risk reduction and management. Across Southeast Asia, countries face similar pressures: denser cities, exposed coastlines, climate-related hazards, and economies linked through food systems, logistics, labour mobility and trade. A disruption in one place can affect livelihoods, prices, services and supply chains beyond the area first hit, including across borders.

The Philippines brings considerable experience to this regional conversation, starting with its institutional architecture for disaster risk reduction and management. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, supported by the Office of Civil Defense, provides a platform for coordination across national government agencies, local governments and other partners. This structure gives the country an important basis for aligning preparedness, response, recovery and long-term risk reduction.

This institutional framework is matched by an evolving policy setting. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan provides the overall framework, while its Midterm Review and the Accelerated Disaster Resilience Action Plan, or ADRAP, offer an opportunity to accelerate coordinated and accountable implementation, sustain momentum, focus collective efforts, and further connect resilience with public finance, infrastructure, land use, social protection and local governance.

Science and technology can change how countries see, anticipate and manage risk, in the Philippines and across ASEAN. Hazard mapping, early warning platforms, geospatial data and interoperable digital systems can help make risk visible before losses occur, identify exposed communities, guide contingency planning and support faster decisions during emergencies. The development of a Digital Readiness Strategy Operational Plan with the Office of Civil Defense, the Department of Science and Technology and other government agencies can help unlock the growing role of digital systems in resilience. When these tools inform budgets, infrastructure, land-use decisions and local preparedness early enough, they can help prevent risk from becoming loss.

The local level is where this agenda is tested and sustained. Local governments make many of the decisions that determine how risk is managed: where development takes place, how infrastructure is built, how communities are informed and how essential services continue during emergencies. Through the Strengthening Institutions and Empowering Localities Against Disasters and Climate Change, or SHIELD Programme, supported by the Australian Government, UNDP is working with national and local partners country-wide to connect risk-informed planning, science-to-practice tools and local resilience financing. It has supported local governments in using climate and hazard information for investment decisions, preparing bankable resilience proposals and developing tools that help identify public, private and blended sources of financing. This experience can be relevant to other countries in Asia and the Pacific, including ASEAN Member States, as they seek to connect local risk reduction, science and financing more effectively.

For ASEAN, resilience is increasingly a regional development issue because risks move across borders through people, markets, infrastructure and ecosystems. Strengthening national systems, using science more effectively and investing in local preparedness can therefore contribute not only to safer communities, but also to more stable and connected regional development.