Category: Philippine Star

The jury is still out. The defense has not yet presented its witnesses, much less offered its evidence, if any. But the Filipinos are known for their advanced thinking. Many have even pushed the name of Speaker Bodjie Dy to replace the vice president and a number of sectors are already celebrating imagined victories, fantasizing acquittal while others are imagining concocted convictions.

Thus, a number of scenarios are like windmills in the minds of many pundits trying to intersect and collide with each other. I do not think it violates the sub judice rule if many Filipinos would create scenarios in their fertile imaginations. The freedom to think is absolute and no court could gag the limitless flights of fancy and creativity among the more imaginative and creative Pinoy minds.

Let us call the first scenario the Luistro-Kapunan endgame scenario, one of conviction by not only 14 but 16 or even 17 votes. The second scenario is the more conservative Lacson-Sotto conservative ending, conviction by 14 votes. The third scenario is the Sison-poa strategic acquittal scenario with 10 or even 11 voting for acquittal. And lastly, the Bong Go-Robin gambit of acquittal due to less than 16 for conviction similar to the Lacson-Sotto scenario.

I will not name names but all possibilities are being considered. It is possible that one senator who has been hiding may run again and stumble in the stairs and rush to cast his vote for acquittal. It is possible that the Sandiganbayan grants a temporary reprieve to two detained senators just to exercise their voting right. A female senator from Europe may surface totally healed from her lung problems to vote unexpectedly for the side never thought of by her allies.

In the event that the vice president is convicted and thus impeached, one of the accessory penalties would be perpetual disqualification from running for public office. With that eventuality, she could not even run for barangay captain in any village in Davao. She cannot even be appointed to any government office. And an impeachment conviction cannot be obliterated by an appeal to the Supreme Court, nor erased by a presidential pardon.

On the other hand, if and when the vice president is acquitted, her 2028 presidential candidacy would practically be in the bag. The Filipinos have a culture called bandwagon mentality and most of the fence-sitters would join the DDS and ride on the bandwagon of the most probable winner. These characters in the likes of Bong Go, Bato de la Rosa, Rodante Marcoleta, and Robinhood Padilla shall dominate the political landscape. And the Cayetanos shall be on the top of the heap.

When the Dutertes will be in Malacañang again, the Marcoses and the Romualdez clans shall disappear from the face of the Philippines. They will be living a life of royal comforts in their mansions and castles in Switzerland and Austria. The only Marcoses to be left behind are the scions of Imee Marcos, the Manotocs. They will flourish and prosper under the grace of the Dutertes. The Villars, the Gatchalians, the Ejercitos, and the Estradas, being the perennial turncoats, will dance to the music of the DDS.

In Cebu, Christina Frasco and her husband, together with Gwen Garcia will most probably run to the embraces of Inday Sara. The Garcias, unlike their iconic patriarchs Noy Pabling and Noy Jesus, would ally themselves with whoever is in the Palace. The politics of the Garcias, just like the politics of almost all the Cebu trapos today are not anchored on principles or ideologies. Their politics is almost always planted on expediency and political survival.

Unlike the times of Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. when he was a Nacionalista from crib to grave, the Cebu politicians today are all political butterflies. Serging Osmeña Jr. remained loyal to his party whether winning or losing. The bottom line is: the result of the impeachment will determine the political landscape in Cebu.

There is no political leader in Cebu today who can hold a candle to the stature of Don Sergio or of Noy Pabling Garcia and Noy Jesus Garcia. The trapos we have today are not leaders. They are simply politicians who make politics their business and source of livelihood. Don Sergio did not need money from the government. He was richer than the government.

From falling from a macopa tree where he lost his right arm at five years old to raking in medals in international races almost two decades later.

That’s how King James Reyes’ life has transformed after he added another feat to his impressive resume – a bronze in the 5th Asian Para Games at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium here Friday.

The 24-year-old ASEAN Para Games double gold winner timed in four minutes and 13.81 seconds to deliver the Philippine team’s first and only medal thus far in this edition.

Sri Lankan Wahumpurage and Puwakpitikande took the gold in 4:03.25 while Indian Parmod the silver in 4:09.65.

‘Sa tulong ni God, hindi po naging hadlang ang kapansanan ko para ma abot ko ang aking mga pangarap,’ said the proud son of Loreto, Agusan del Sur and graduating Sports Science student at Adamson.

‘Personal best ko din po ito, nagbunga training namin at sacrifices,’ he added.

It also buried the stigma made of the heartbreaking incident the day before when Cyril Cloyd Ongcoy lost his bronze also in the 1500m but in a different category – T12/T13 – following the jury’s decision to reinstate an initially disqualified Fakhriddin Khamraev of Uzbekistan, who pocketed the mint instead.

With more track and field events plus swimming and fencing left in the Filipinos’ schedule, the Philippines, which was financed by the Philippine Sports Commission, is presently at 17th overall in the medal race with a 2-2-2 harvest.

Evaristo Carbonel and Edwin Enguito, Jr. reached for medals but couldn’t catch one.

Carbonel posted a personal best of 27.18m in the men’s discus throw F11 but it was only good for fifth and last, while Enguito ended up fourth in the men’s high jump T63 with a 1.63m.

In fencing at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center, Wilfredo Bugayong II and Violeta Sapalit both crashed out in the medal race in saber.

Bugayong advanced to the Table 16 of men’s Category A after overcoming Hong Kong’s Lee Sheung Ho, 15-5, the round before but ran into Chinese Cheng Yang and suffered a 6-15 beating.

Same with Sapalit, who was shown the door by South Korean Kim Yeji, 6-15, in the Table of 16.

The Philippines’ housing policy could shift toward subsidizing homebuyers rather than requiring developers to build socialized housing, under proposals by the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations Inc. (CREBA) to ease affordability constraints and make private sector participation in addressing the housing backlog more effective.

The group is urging the government to introduce interest subsidies for qualified borrowers, review socialized housing compliance rules and streamline licensing requirements, arguing that current policies risk producing housing units that beneficiaries cannot afford while tying up developers’ capital in projects with limited demand.

National President Noel Toti Cariño said at a press conference on Oct. 21 ahead of the group’s national convention in Cebu sheduled Oct 22 at the Radisson Blu Cebu, that housing policy should focus not only on increasing unit production but also on enabling beneficiaries to purchase and occupy homes.

‘This way, we are addressing the issue of affordability, not just the issue of production of homes,’ Cariño said.

Under CREBA’s proposal, participating developers would make non-recoverable contributions to a fund administered by the Home Development Mutual Fund, or Pag-IBIG Fund. The money would subsidize part of the interest payments of qualified homebuyers, reducing their monthly amortization and making housing loans more manageable.

CREBA has submitted the proposal to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), Pag-IBIG Fund and the executive branch. The association said the recommendation is being studied by the concerned agencies.

The proposal emerged from a technical working group established by CREBA to explore alternatives to existing socialized housing compliance requirements.

The association argues that requiring developers to construct designated housing units does not guarantee that the intended beneficiaries can afford them or that the properties are located where demand exists.

Some projects remain vacant because of accessibility constraints or weak demand, while developers absorb the costs of land acquisition, construction and beneficiary identification, he said.

An interest subsidy could direct assistance to qualified buyers at the point of purchase, while giving developers greater flexibility to deploy capital toward projects with viable demand, he added.

The proposal would, however, require a workable funding structure and clear eligibility rules to ensure that subsidies reach intended beneficiaries without undermining the financial sustainability of housing programs.

Financing gap divides housing market

CREBA Executive Vice President Fernando Martinez said developers remain willing to support efforts to narrow the housing deficit but need clearer implementation rules, stronger coordination with local governments and more effective collaboration with government agencies.

National convention chairman Jose Soberano III said housing policy should distinguish between households that can qualify for financing but struggle with monthly payments and those that cannot afford to borrow in the first place.

The first group could benefit from Pag-IBIG-backed loans and interest subsidies, while households without sufficient income or borrowing capacity may require more direct government intervention through agencies such as the National Housing Authority.

Possible rent-to-own arrangements could provide another route to homeownership for households that cannot readily qualify for conventional housing finance, Soberano said.

For developers, the challenge is to reconcile affordability objectives with the economics of project delivery. Land, construction and compliance costs must be recovered before capital can be reinvested in additional developments, making a sustainable financing framework essential to continued private sector participation.

CREBA said its more than 300 members and allied industry organizations are prepared to contribute to housing initiatives, provided the government establishes practical guidelines and coordinates resources, technology and design solutions.

Industry seeks stronger public-private coordination

The proposals reflect the real estate industry’s push for a housing framework that aligns government assistance with private sector investment and the financial capacity of prospective homeowners.

Martinez said closer coordination among public agencies, local governments and developers could improve the implementation of housing programs and make better use of private sector resources.

CREBA is raising the proposals during its 53rd National Convention in Cebu, which brings together developers, contractors, builders, suppliers and other industry stakeholders to discuss policy and business conditions affecting the property sector.

About 400 to 500 delegates had indicated plans to attend the gathering, which carries the theme ‘Beyond Shelter, Creating Communities, Transforming Lives.’

The association said the convention would provide a platform for presenting recommendations to the government, particularly on how socialized housing compliance can be redesigned to deliver measurable benefits to intended beneficiaries.

For CREBA, the policy shift is intended to move the industry beyond construction quotas toward a model that combines public assistance and private sector capacity to make homeownership more attainable.

The effectiveness of the proposed changes will depend on whether the government can translate the recommendations into clear rules, sustainable financing and housing programs that match the needs and incomes of Filipino households.

The pot just got sweeter for Filipino athletes who took home medals from the recently concluded 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.

Aside from government-mandated cash incentives for winning medals in the Asiad, 53 athletes received the latest iPhone 18, courtesy of SportsPlus.

The country’s premier PAGCOR-licensed sportsbook and official partner of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) said the initiative reflects its commitment to supporting Filipino athletes as they pursue excellence and to recognizing their accomplishments.

‘SportsPlus is thrilled to have surprised our beloved athletes with these smartphones,’ SportsPlus President and CEO Andre Uy stated.

‘Our brand takes great pride in these initiatives as we join the nation in celebrating their success and recognizing the hard work and dedication behind every medal.’ The iPhone giveaway took place during the POC General Assembly on October 22 at a luxury restaurant in Parañaque, where representatives of the Philippine sports community gathered.

‘All the athletes that won a medal here are so happy to get a new iPhone 18 model through the help of SportsPlus, and we are all thankful for their generosity,’ said POC President Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino.

‘This incentive will significantly aid our athletes in surfing new conditioning and training methods online. It allows them to discover new techniques and fully utilize modern fitness apps to further enhance their training and skills,’ he added.

With preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics underway, SportsPlus reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening its support for Philippine sports and recognizing the athletes who continue to bring pride to the country.

‘As we look ahead to future international competitions, SportsPlus remains committed to supporting Philippine sports and standing behind the athletes, our modern day heroes, who proudly carry our nation’s flag,’ Uy iterated. (Contributed story)

Rain or Shine used a complete team effort to douse the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 133-103, and clinch the No. 2 spot of Group B in the PBA Governors’ Cup Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

With the dominant win, the Elasto Painters will face the Converge FiberXers, the third seed of Group A, in the crossover best-of-five quarterfinals.

Jhonard Clarito and Aaron Fuller led the eight Elasto Painters in double digits with 18 points each. The former had 11 rebounds, five assists and a block, while the latter hauled down eight boards.

Trailing by three, 27-30, after the first quarter, Rain or Shine outscored Phoenix 83-54 in the middle quarters as they broke the game wide open.

The Elasto Painters simply could not be stopped as they poured it on offense.

Phoenix was able to slice the deficit to 18, 92-110, in the fourth after former Rain or Shine wing Gian Mamuyac connected on a layup, but it was the nearest the Fuel Masters got to.

The 30-point spread at the end of the game was the biggest of the contest.

Adrian Nocum added 17 points off the bench for the Elasto Painters. Santi Santillan chipped in 13 points while Felix Lemetti had 11. Caelan Tiongson and Luis Villegas produced 10 markers apiece in the win.

Marcellus Earlington paced the Fuel Masters with 20 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Mamuyac and Francis Escandor added 16 points apiece.

Already in the quarterfinals, Phoenix, which finished the elims with a 5-5 slate, could take on either NLEX or San Miguel in the playoffs, depending on the final elimination-round game between Barangay Ginebra and Blackwater later Friday.

Chanelle Avaricio silenced a crowded title chase with an early eagle, then leaned on her precision, patience and steely resolve to thwart Tiffany Lee’s blistering backside charge and capture the ICTSI South Pacific Classic by one yesterday.

In sweltering conditions at the South Pacific Golf Club in Davao City, Avaricio delivered a closing three-under 69 for an eight-under 209 total in the 54-hole championship.

What appeared to be a runaway victory turned into a nerve-wracking battle down the stretch. Avaricio and Lee traded blows in a gripping finish that once again underscored the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour’s penchant for last-hole drama. In the end, Avaricio took the victory worth P142,250.

Meanwhile, Clyde Mondilla fired an eight-under 64 under preferred lies to storm from four shots down into the outright lead after the third round of PGT play.

The Bukidnon ace opened with four straight birdies, erased his deficit to catch halfway leader Lee Song at 13-under, then sustained the charge over the remaining holes to seize the solo lead at 16-under 200.

The Korean, after earlier rounds of 67 and 65, carded a 69 for a 201.

The PBA Governors’ Cup playoff picture is complete.

Barangay Ginebra stamped the final quarterfinal ticket after keeping its arm’s length from Blackwater, 101-96, Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The Gin Kings finished the elimination round with a 5-5 win-loss record, same with the Phoenix Fuel Masters.

But with Ginebra’s superior quotient over Phoenix, the squad rose to third place in Group B.

This placed the Gin Kings on a collision course with the No. 2 of Group A, the San Miguel Beermen, while the Fuel Masters dropped to fourth and will take on the NLEX Road Warriors.

Jordan Murphy stood tall for Ginebra with 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Troy Rosario added 17 markers and four boards off the bench.

Ginebra started the game off waxing hot, taking a double digit lead in the first that set the tone the rest of the way.

The Gin Kings kept their foot on the gas through the third quarter, as they took an 87-72 lead heading to the fourth.

And while Blackwater tried to claw back, Ginebra just had answer after answer.

The Bossing sliced a lead that was as high as 20 points to just seven, 90-97, with 2:37 remaining. But a Ralph Cu jumper kept them at bay, 99-90, as triples by Jed Mendoza and Jack Cruz-Dumont late failed to move Blackwater to within striking distance.

RJ Abarrientos added 14 points, three assists and two rebounds, while Jeremiah Gray had 11 points. Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar added 10 markers apiece in the win.

Kentrell Barkley paced Blackwater with 16 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes and 36 seconds of play. Sedrick Barefield chipped in 12 markers in the loss.

The quarterfinals will tip off on Sunday with NLEX taking on Phoenix at 5:15 p.m., and Magnolia tackling TNT at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be played at the same Antipolo venue.

Several European countries are now being gripped perhaps we can even say being held hostage by a series of protests.

In France, protests began as student-led demonstrations over teacher shortages and poor school conditions, but those from other walks of life quickly joined in, citing soaring living costs, high energy prices,

In Belgium, people are protesting against government budget cuts, austerity measures, rising education costs, and higher tuition reforms; more or less the same things the French are up against.

In Italy, people are protesting because of the high cost of fuel and shortage of affordable housing.

But some protesters have gone above and beyond just airing their grievances. In Paris, they have looted shops and burned cars. In Limoges, they even burned down a 140-year-old town hall. Shops have also been pilfered in Milan and Turin.

There is nothing wrong with expressing dissatisfaction with how your government is doing, but when you commit willful destruction of government and private property as well as theft then that is something else.

Legitimate outrage should not to turn into theft or vandalism.

The violence must stop. Years from now people will not remember that protesters stood up for what they believed in, they will remember that it was a scary time because people ran amok doing whatever they wanted to do, including breaking the law.

There is another good reason to stop all the unnecessary violence. We are sure some extremist groups are looking to take advantage of the chaos and the hate being misdirected toward certain ethnic groups, particularly migrants, to advance their objectives.

This is also a good time for them to gauge how difficult it may actually be to attack some hard targets and how authorities and different government offices and agencies will respond to certain acts.

We are also sure large groups of people congregating present a juicy target for terrorists. All it takes is just one bomb, one speeding vehicle, one gun to turn a crowd into casualties.

Former Department of Health secretaries have expressed alarm over the drastic budget cut to the DOH Health Promotion Bureau, warning lawmakers that it is a violation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.

From the proposed P2.5 billion, the HPB’s 2027 budget has been reduced to P485 million, or 0.18 percent of the DOH’s total budget, in the House of Representatives’ version of the 2027 general appropriations bill.

Section 30 of the UHC Law states that ‘the cost of implementing health promotion programs shall be at least one percent of the DOH’s total budget appropriations, ‘ the Healthy Philippines Alliance (HPA) stressed.

‘Slashing funding for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases will ultimately cost the government far more in secondary care and emergency hospitalizations in the future,’ said Jaime Galvez Tan, former health secretary and HPA lead convener.

‘Diabetes, heart and kidney disease and hypertension are overwhelming Filipino families and draining our health care system. Prevention is our most cost-effective tool and we urge Congress to restore and expand funding to protect public health,’ he added.

Filipino families, especially those from low-income households, lose the support and resources they need to protect them from preventable risks when the budget for health promotion shrinks to P400 million, former health secretary Esperanza Cabral said.

‘It strips the poor of their right to services that can save their lives. We cannot protect vulnerable communities when HPB is severely underfunded,’ Cabral said.

Former health secretary Manuel Dayrit said, ‘A budget cut of this scale undermines the mandate of the UHC Law. It is counterproductive to our goal of achieving a financially sustainable universal health care, which is fundamentally guaranteed to every Filipin

A tito in Quezon City gets a text on his lunch break. The sender name reflects the government agency, and the message says he has an unsettled violation. The website he taps looks official and takes him through each step, so he pays.

A young mother in Cebu gets a message that seems to come from her bank, telling her that her reward points expire tonight. She enters her name, birthday, address and card details.

A finance officer in Makati gets a message from the CEO’s social media account, urgent and confidential, asking for a transfer before the end of the day. The profile photo and the name are right, and only the account is fake.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a timely reminder that the fight against cybercrime is no longer just about protecting systems, but also about protecting the people who trust them.

None of the three was beaten by a genius hacker or a clever piece of code. Somebody borrowed the one thing every society runs on, which is trust.

I believe in cyber-resilience. After spending time with the data, though, I keep asking myself whether it is enough.

What the data says

Check Point’s Philippine Threat Landscape Report 2026 tracked 66 active threat actors, and 35 of them, more than half, are financially motivated. When we ask who is coming for us, the answer is people who want our money and have learned that the easiest way to get it is through us, not through our systems.

The report counted 24,875 cases of exposed data across the Philippine organizations it monitored. Customer credentials were the largest category, and information stealer logs were the leading source.

Nearly 44 percent of the cases were linked to malware harvesting credentials from infected devices. Nobody has to break down a door for this. A piece of malware sits on a device and takes notes on everything its owner types, so your government portal password and your bank password can end up in the same stolen file, waiting to be sold.

Phishing alerts from January to August totaled 2,386, against 2,485 over the same period last year. That is a drop of around four percent, which is hardly a victory. The threat has become a permanent resident.

Impersonation has risen across the three comparable January-to-August periods. This year there were 1,194 alerts. Of these, 972 (81.4 percent) impersonated companies and 222 (18.6 percent) impersonated executives. A familiar face and a familiar name no longer prove anything.

The report also warns that AI-assisted reconnaissance and exploit development could shorten attack timelines, and that AI agents connected to sensitive systems create exposure of their own.

Across all of these findings, the attackers use valid identities, valid credentials, and trusted processes. They don’t break in; they log in. They hack the human, and they do it at scale.

Why resilience alone falls short

Resilience measures how well one organization absorbs a hit and recovers. The scammer does not respect our org charts.

A bank can recover perfectly from an incident and still have a customer who lost her savings and now says, ‘I don’t trust digital payments anymore.’ She won’t name the platform that failed her. That loss of confidence is paid for by all of us, and no single institution can repair it, whether it is a bank, a telco, a regulator or a government agency.

We can respond better with the 3 C’s: collaboration, co-creation, and coopetition.

Collaboration has to cut across industries. A scam that starts as a text message ends in a bank account, and along the way it touches a telco, a social media platform, a payment provider, a regulator and law enforcement.

Co-creation. Public and private sectors should design solutions together, instead of reviewing each other’s. Government brings the mandate, the reach and the authority to enforce, while industry brings speed, technology and a front-line view of fraudsters.

Coopetition takes courage. Fintechs and banks compete hard for the same customers, and they should keep competing on service, innovation and price. They should not compete on safety.

Scams do not carry passports. A fraudster in one country, a mule account in another and a victim in a third can move money in seconds and the evidence moves even faster. The scammers already work together, trading tools, templates, stolen data and tips in open groups without paperwork or approvals. If the people defending the public move slower than the people attacking it, we will always be a step behind.

What to do about it

The report lays out six priorities through 2027: focus on impact, not volume; treat identity and session exposure as a continuous risk; reduce exposure along the common paths of intrusion; extend third-party governance beyond onboarding; govern AI adoption and access and convert threat intelligence into defined response actions.

One rule applies to all six. A finding that sits in a slide deck protects no one, so every credible finding should be validated, given an owner, acted on according to its likely impact, and retested after the fix. Validate, assign, act, retest.

So, is cyber-resilience enough?

I don’t think so, because it covers only the institution. A cyber-resilient Philippines is not a country where attacks never happen. It is one where an attack on one of us becomes a lesson learned by all of us, and where the tito, the young mother and the finance officer are not facing it alone.

In that country, trust is not something fraudsters can borrow, because we have built the people, the partnerships, and the systems to protect it.

The scammers are already working together. It’s about time we do the same and win against them.

Lito Villanueva is the Philippines’ leading and award-winning thought leader in inclusive digital finance. As EVP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer of RCBC, he has driven large-scale digital initiatives that advanced financial inclusion. He is the founding chairman of FinTech Alliance PH, representing 95 percent of the country’s digital retail financial transactions with an aggregate user base in excess of 100 million, and the co-founder and Global Ambassador of the Asia FinTech Alliance. Recognized as a People Asia Men Who Matter 2025, Digital Leader of the Year, Asia Trailblazer, and AGORA Awardee, he continues to shape the fintech landscape in the Philippines and beyond.