Category: Philippine Star

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.

The peso weakened past the 63.50-per-dollar level yesterday, setting another record low even after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) delivered a larger-than-usual interest rate hike before the foreign exchange market closed.

Data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed the peso closed at 63.52 per dollar, weaker by 15.9 centavos from Wednesday’s previous record-low finish of 63.361.

The local currency opened at 63.31, briefly strengthened to 63.30, then weakened to as much as 63.545, its weakest intraday level on record. Trading volume rose by about 28 percent to $1.72 billion from $1.34 billion in the previous session.

Before the foreign exchange market closed, the BSP raised its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 5.50 percent. Higher interest rates can help support the peso by making peso-denominated investments more attractive, although analysts said external pressures remain strong enough to limit the currency’s response.

Ser Percival Peña-Reyes, director of the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development, said the peso continues to be weighed down by a strong dollar amid uncertainty over US interest rates, expensive oil due to Middle East tensions and persistent domestic demand for dollars.

He warned that the 64-per-dollar level has become a realistic near-term risk, noting that the peso would need to weaken by only around one percent from current levels to reach that threshold.

‘If oil stays expensive and the dollar strengthens, 64 could be tested within days or weeks. Easing geopolitical tensions or a weaker dollar could delay it,’ Peña-Reyes said.

Philippine Institute for Development Studies senior research fellow John Paolo Rivera likewise pointed to persistent dollar demand, elevated oil prices, global uncertainty and the widening balance of payments deficit.

Rivera said higher BSP rates could help stabilize the peso by making peso-denominated assets more attractive and narrowing the interest rate gap with the United States.

The Bureau of Immigration and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines are set to deploy additional personnel from October 30 to November 3 as airports brace for the Undas passenger surge.

CAAP expects passenger volume this year to reach 4 million, up from 3.7 million in 2025.

Immigration spokesperson Anisha Hadji Hassan said rapid response teams will be on standby at each terminal in case more immigration officers are needed or eGates at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport experience downtime.

“For the maximum availability of our officers, we are currently implementing a leave ban. From Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, we are limiting the approval of vacation leaves so that if additional personnel are needed, we will have officers available for deployment,” Hassan said in Filipino on Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon radio.

CAAP Public Information Officer Bea Bernardo said more general and security personnel will also be deployed as heightened security measures are implemented, including stricter baggage checks and help desks.

CAAP is also coordinating with other agencies to improve airport operations, she added.

“Under the DOTr’s Oplan Biyaheng Ayos, all its attached agencies are working together to speed up processes and ensure the safety of passengers,” Bernardo said in Filipino.

Travel reminders

Passengers, meanwhile, are reminded to prepare ahead and monitor advisories from agencies operating at airports.

“Passengers should know about advisories in advance so their travels can be hassle-free,” Hassan said.

The advisories are posted on the agencies’ websites. Immigration wait times are available on the BI website and Facebook page.

Hassan also advised passengers to arrive at the airport early and prepare their documents in advance, including eTravel passes, which are available 72 hours before departure and arrival.

For frequent travelers, Hassan recommended using eGates so immigration officers can “focus on passengers who are potentially vulnerable or threats.”

We pride ourselves on being able to predict many things. We know when rain is coming by watching the clouds. We anticipate storms through weather apps and satellites. Yet Jesus points to a far greater blindness: we often fail to recognize the signs of God’s action in our lives. This we can draw from Gospel of the Mass on Friday of the 29th week in Ordinary Time.

That warning is even more relevant today. We track stock markets, election surveys, viral trends, and artificial intelligence. We consume endless information. Yet we can remain oblivious to God’s quiet invitations to conversion, holiness, and faithful service.

The problem is not a lack of intelligence but a lack of spiritual sensitivity. We become so occupied with earthly concerns that eternal realities fade into the background. We notice every breaking news alert but miss the gentle voice of conscience calling us back to God.

True wisdom is not measured by how much we know but by how well we judge according to God’s truth. A well-formed conscience sees beyond appearances. It recognizes what truly matters and chooses what leads to eternal life rather than passing success.

Jesus then gives a practical example. If you are headed to court with your opponent, settle the matter before arriving. The lesson is much deeper than legal advice. Our whole life is a journey toward meeting God, the just judge.

Now is the time for reconciliation. God offers mercy today, not because he owes it to us, but because he loves us. Delaying conversion is one of the greatest spiritual risks. We assume there will always be another chance. There may not be.

Many postpone prayer until retirement. Others plan to return to Confession “when life settles down.” Some delay forgiving old hurts or answering God’s call. But every delay strengthens bad habits and weakens our response to grace.

This gospel also shines a bright light on Filipino society. Our churches are often full, fiestas are lively, and religious devotions remain strong. These are precious traditions, but they lose their meaning if they do not change the way we live.

Corruption still flourishes. Online misinformation spreads rapidly. Political hostility divides families and friends. Small acts of dishonesty are dismissed as normal. We cannot claim to recognize God’s signs while ignoring the moral decay around us and within us.

Jesus calls us to sharper spiritual vision. Every crisis, every blessing, every disappointment, and every encounter carries a message from God. Nothing is wasted when seen through the eyes of faith. Every moment becomes an opportunity to grow in holiness.

The Lord’s words are not meant to frighten us but to awaken us. He warns because he loves. He urges us to reconcile with him while the door of mercy remains open and to make peace with others before resentment hardens into habit.

Let us not become experts at forecasting the weather while remaining strangers to the condition of our own soul. The greatest sign to read is always the presence of God calling us to holiness –today, not tomorrow.

May Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, help us recognize the signs her Son places before us each day. May she obtain for us the grace to respond without delay, to embrace continual conversion, and to remain faithful until we meet Christ face to face.

International Criminal Court prosecutors have asked judges to admit the recorded statements of three witnesses who they say can describe the policy to “neutralize” alleged drug suspects under former president Rodrigo Duterte.

One witness speaks about 13 of the killings charged against Duterte, including one during a police “One Time Big Time” operation, according to the redacted version of the court filing dated October 21 and signed by Acting Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang.

The three witnesses, all women, were already on the prosecution’s witness list. The defense has known since August 31 that prosecutors planned to present them under this procedure.

Prosecutors are asking the court to allow transcripts of their earlier interviews with investigators to be admitted as evidence in place of most of their direct examination, saying this would save court time.

Under Rule 68(3) of the court’s rules, each witness must still appear in court, confirm her statement is accurate and consent to its use. Duterte’s lawyers can cross-examine them, and the judges and lawyers for victims can still question them.

All three accounts relate to Count 3, which covers killings in barangay “clearance” operations against alleged small-time drug users and pushers from about July 2016 to September 2018.

When the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed the charges against Duterte on April 23, Count 3 covered 45 victims, 43 of whom were killed. Count 1 covers 19 killings in Davao City from 2013 to 2016, when Duterte was mayor, and Count 2 covers 14 killings of alleged “high-value targets” in 2016 and 2017.

Pattern of killings

The identities of the three witnesses were withheld in the public document.

The statement of one witness, who is labelled in the filing as “P-0008,” comes from two interviews with prosecution investigators.

In several of the 13 killings she discusses, she allegedly described events before the victims died. Names, dates and places are redacted in the public filing.

The filing does not say where or when the “One Time Big Time” operation took place. Police in the Philippines are known to have used the term for simultaneous, large-scale anti-drug sweeps, where deadly shootouts also occur.

Prosecutors said P-0008’s evidence shows the “modus operandi and pattern of violence” police used against alleged criminals.

Another witness, labelled “P-1164,” spoke about three charged killings by police.

Meanwhile, “P-1303” gives evidence about an individual who was shot dead by police, but her relationship to him is redacted in the filing. Prosecutors said her account relates to one charged killing.

Prosecutors said the three accounts are internally consistent and match evidence expected from other witnesses, including “P-0003,” who is due to testify in person.

They said the evidence also helps prove that the killings were part of a widespread or systematic attack on civilians, a requirement for crimes against humanity.

The prosecutors said the three witnesses will show there was a policy to “neutralise” alleged criminals through violence, including murder.

All three women were told their interviews were voluntary and were informed of their rights, and each confirmed she answered of her own free will, the filing said.