Category: Philippine Star

The Presidential Photojournalists’ Association (PPA) will formally unveil ‘In Focus: Marcos Presidency,’ a photographic exhibit featuring significant moments and milestones of the President on Aug. 13 at Likhang Filipino in Pasay City.

The exhibit brings together photographs taken by PPA members throughout their continuing coverage of the President, presenting a visual chronicle of official engagements, state ceremonies, diplomatic meetings, visits to communities and other defining moments of the administration.

More than a collection of photographs, the exhibit highlights the vital role of photojournalism in documenting governance, preserving public memory and creating a lasting visual record of Philippine history through firsthand coverage of the nation’s highest office.

The exhibit’s public run coincides with the observance of World Photography Day on Aug. 19, celebrating photography not only as an art form but also as a powerful medium for documentation, storytelling and historical preservation.

Founded in 1986 by photojournalists assigned to cover Malacañang, the PPA has documented successive administrations while upholding the principles of professionalism, accuracy, ethics and integrity in visual journalism.

PPA president Noel Pabalate of The STAR said the exhibit recognizes the responsibility entrusted to presidential photojournalists, regardless of who occupies Malacañang.

‘For presidential photojournalists, every administration becomes part of the historical record we are entrusted to document. Our responsibility remains the same – to be present, to observe carefully and to produce photographs that truthfully preserve the events and moments that define a presidency,’ Pabalate said.

The exhibit also pays tribute to the photojournalists who work behind the camera, often traveling with the President across the country and abroad to document events on behalf of the Filipino public.

‘In Focus: Marcos Presidency’ will be open to the public from Aug. 14 to 30 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., except Mondays, at Likhang Filipino in Pasay City.

Supported by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and the Office of the President (OP), the two-week exhibit is made possible through the sponsorship of Pagcor, Metro Pacific Investment Corp., Island Photo and Golden Touch.

Digital banks and fintech companies are pushing back against calls for permanently free fund transfers, saying the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s new pricing framework allows financial institutions to charge fees based on the actual cost of providing digital payment services.

The Digital Bank Association of the Philippines (DiBA PH) said BSP Circular 1238 does not require zero fees, but instead adopts a cost-based pricing framework for electronic fund transfers.

‘This provides greater regulatory certainty for digital banks as they continue investing in secure payments, savings, responsible credit and other digital financial services that deepen financial inclusion,’ the group said.

‘DiBA supports the BSP’s balanced approach, recognizing that affordability, consumer protection, innovation and long-term sustainability go hand in hand in building a resilient and competitive digital banking ecosystem,’ it added.

The BSP earlier clarified that compliance with the circular does not automatically mean banks and electronic money issuers must remove transfer fees. Instead, institutions must justify the amount they charge based on the costs involved in processing transactions.

Fintech Alliance Philippines founding chairman Lito Villanueva said the industry supports efforts to make digital payments more affordable, but stressed that the circular was designed around a cost-based rather than a zero-fee framework.

‘Of course, this is a good initiative of the BSP in making digital payments affordable,’ Villanueva said. However, he said the BSP circular is ‘more focused on a cost-based over a zero-based framework.’

‘It’s more about having to ensure that affordability plus security are actually together,’ he told reporters.

Villanueva said low-cost digital payments should not come at the expense of consumer protection, cybersecurity and the operational reliability of payment platforms.

He also noted that while many banks have already waived fund transfer fees, free transactions do not mean that providers no longer incur costs.

He said financial institutions offering free transfers may instead seek other revenue sources by deepening customer engagement and cross-selling other financial products.

Under Circular 1238, banks and electronic money issuers must submit a breakdown of the costs used to determine their transfer fees.

‘They just need to provide the BSP the breakdown of the cost that will constitute the transfer fee,’ Villanueva said. ‘They need to justify that if it is P10 or P15 or whatever.’

Villanueva said transaction costs extend beyond the industry switch fee and may include settlement, clearing, customer service and dispute handling, particularly for off-us transactions or transfers involving different financial institutions.

The debate over digital payment fees has intensified as more banks and financial technology companies offer temporary or permanent fee waivers to attract customers and encourage greater use of online transactions.

Industry leaders have maintained that affordability should remain a central part of financial inclusion, but argued that regulation should also allow providers to sustain investments in cybersecurity, fraud prevention, customer support and operational resilience.

Barbie Dapul, chief operating officer of G-Xchange Inc., said trust is the foundation of digital finance.

‘Financial inclusion is meaningful only when people trust the system. Every secure transaction, every fraud prevented, every customer concern resolved and every innovation introduced reflects continuous investment in protecting consumers.’

She added that inclusion should be measured not only by the number of accounts opened but by the quality, safety and reliability of the services people use every day.

Angelo Madrid, president and CEO of Maya Bank, said sustainable competition depends on recognizing that banks, digital banks and electronic money issuers operate under different business models and regulatory obligations.

‘A progressive regulatory environment encourages innovation while recognizing that different institutions contribute to financial inclusion in different ways. The objective is a level playing field that benefits consumers and strengthens the financial system.’

An agent of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and an alleged shabu trafficker were killed, while three members of the Philippine Marines were wounded in a shootout with a group allegedly circulating narcotics in Barangay Paniongan in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi on Sunday morning, August 9.

Regional officials of the Bangsamoro police based at Camp SK Pendatun in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, told reporters at noon Sunday that the incident left an agent of the PDEA-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Ernie Jim Dayag, deadl and three members of the Navy’s 4th Marine Battalion, including its commanding officer, Lt. Col. Richard Malabanan, wounded.

Local executives, including Manan Rasul, chairman of Barangay Paniongan, reported that agents of the PDEA-BARMM, Marine servicemen led by Malabanan and personnel from different units in Tawi-Tawi of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region were supposed to entrap a group of alleged drug dealers in Mapanbubu area in Paniongan, but the operation turned awry when the targets of the operation provoked a gunfight.

Gunmen from houses around the agreed trade-off spot came out when they learned that their companions had sold shabu to combined PDEA-BARMM agents and Marine and police personnel and opened fire, sparking an encounter.

One of the gunmen who attacked the joint PDEA-BARMM, police and Marine law enforcement team was killed in the ensuing exchange of gunfire, according to local executives in Bongao, capital town of Tawi-Tawi, one of the five provinces in BARMM.

Malabanan, who sustained a bullet wound to the head, was immediately airlifted by a Philippine Air Force team to a hospital in Zamboanga City for treatment.

Local executives and provincial police officials in Tawi-Tawi said the heavily armed drug dealers involved in the bloody clash who managed to escape are now the subject of a joint police-military manhunt.

I first looked at democratic socialism seriously when I read US Sen. Bernie Sanders’ statement: ‘Health care is a human right, not a privilege.’

This is the belief that access to medical care should not depend on wealth and should be available to anyone who needs it. This sounded as a revolutionary idea that should have been realized long before Sen. Sanders started expressing it.

I started reading that this concept about health care as a human right was part of an ideology called Democratic Socialism. This is a political, economic and social ideology that combines democracy with the principles of social, economic and income equality. However, democratic socialism, unlike other forms of socialism, promotes democratic institutions, free elections, civil liberties and the rule of law while advocating for an economy that places the well-being of people above the pursuit of profit.

Democratic socialists believe that government has an essential role in providing quality public services accessible to all, protecting workers’ rights, eliminating poverty and ensuring that wealth is distributed more equitably throughout society. Rather than replacing democracy with a one-party system or centralized authoritarian rule, democratic socialism insists that social and economic reforms can and should be achieved through peaceful democratic processes and public participation.

This issue of democratic processes while maintaining an obligation of an equitable society is very critical today because the Philippines is looking for ways to address the economic downturn the country is now experiencing. There are again voices in society that claim unfairly that it is necessary for the country to sacrifice social services and workers’ welfare such as minimum wage increases in order to achieve economic growth.

The advocates of capitalism believe that economic growth must take precedence over a life of human dignity for every person in order to achieve economic growth.

However, democratic socialists argue that socialism does not necessarily require revolution for it to emerge. Karl Marx argued that capitalism inevitably created conflict between workers and business owners. Marx believed that socialism emerged only through revolution.

Democratic socialist thinkers propose a different path. The economic philosopher Eduard Bernstein argued that socialism could be achieved gradually through elections, democratic reforms and constitutional governments rather than violent revolution. His ideas laid the intellectual foundation for modern democratic socialism and influenced many political parties throughout Europe.

Democratic socialism differs from both capitalism and authoritarian socialism because it seeks a balance between economic freedom and social responsibility. It accepts the existence of private businesses and markets that believe that governments should regulate industries to advance the interest of workers, consumers and the environment.

Democratic socialists support universal health care, accessible education to all, affordable housing, labor rights, social welfare programs and progressive taxation. They believe that certain essential human services should be publicly funded and publicly managed because these services are fundamental to human dignity and should not depend solely on a person’s or family’s income. In this way, democratic socialism promotes the idea that democracy should extend beyond politics and influence economic institutions as well.

Many prominent political leaders around the world have supported democratic socialist ideas. In the United States, the best known democratic socialists are Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Just this year, democratic socialists have won major electoral victories in the United States. Zohran Mandani won as mayor of New York City, the largest American city. Abdul El-Sayed has just won the Democratic primary in the state of Michigan. Some other democratic socialists are planning to run for congressional seats in Colorado, New York and California. If these candidates win based on their platforms of democratic socialism, this ideology will definitely gain in popularity in other countries, including the Philippines.

Income inequality, health care accessibility, expensive education, housing affordability and stagnant wages have been major issues in the Philippines, United States and other countries during the last couple of decades. Until recently, many countries have turned to authoritarianism and populism as possible solutions to these critical issues.

However, the rise of populism and dictators promising to address income inequality has not succeeded. Therefore, it is understandable why the general population has begun to look for other solutions and democratic socialism has become the most attractive alternative to date.

In the Philippines, the Duterte regime ran and won basically on a platform of addressing economic inequality through a populist platform which pointed to the existence of an oligarchy as the root problem. At the end of Duterte’s presidency, income and economic inequality remained as serious a problem as before.

Democratic socialism, on the other hand, represents an effort to reconcile democracy, individual freedom with social justice and human rights. Rather than advocating authoritarian government control over all aspects of the economy, it seeks to reform democratic societies through peaceful means. It can be seen that in some countries that have adopted a comprehensive welfare system, they have been able to maintain democratic institutions.

Perhaps, another basic idea in the ideology of democratic socialism is that the economy should exist to serve the people, rather than the people serving the economy. It’s time for some political parties in the Philippines to adopt the ideology of democratic socialism in order to promote both prosperity and fairness for the Filipino people.

Filipina shuttlers Seanna Berce and Psalm Tablante shocked Malaysians Tian Ning Chuah and Cynthia Ooi, 21-18, 17-21, 21-12, yesterday and set up a date with destiny – a girls’ under-15 doubles finals stint in the inaugural Philippine Junior International Series presented by the Philippine Sports Commission at the Gameville Central Park in Mandaluyong.

The stunner catapulted the 12-year-old duo from Laguna to the finals against another Malaysian tandem in Leanne Fong and Xin Yan Liew, who eliminated Thais Sirikhorn Chongcharoen and Wichyada Nokmow, 21-16, 22-20.

‘We weren’t expecting it because we decided to join in the last minute,’ said Tablante, who hails from Biñan, in this event backed by Yonex, Sunrise, Smart, Gameville Central Park, Cignal, mWell, MVP Sports Foundation, Maynilad, Jollibee, Milksha, Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, PLDT, TELESCOOP, and Uratex.

For Berce, who is from San Pablo, it would be anything goes in the finale.

‘Win or lose, it’s okay with us. What’s important is just that we gave it our best to play at this level,’ she said.

Settling for bronzes were the Ellaikha Canillo-Nica Gulpany pair and the Stephen Pantuan-Roaquine Ramos duo.

Canillo and Gulpany stumbled to Thais Kungkaew Kakanik and Montra Sae Jiew, 23-21, 21-12, in the women’s U19 doubles while Pantuan and Ramos fell to Malaysians Yusuf M. Iqbal and Khairul Azan Khashah, 21-16, 21-17, in the men’s U19 doubles.

In the women’s U19 singles, Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen will shoot for glory against Thailand’s Kakanik.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s En Yu Lim and India’s Kyra Raina will face each other for the girls’ U15 crown.

The mixed U19 doubles gold will go to either Malaysia’s Khashah and Nur Aina Maisarah or Vietnam’s Nguyen Tat Duy Loi and Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen.

Scientists from the Ateneo de Manila University found that extreme southwest monsoon rains are driven not by a single weather event, but by a combination of atmospheric conditions that come together across thousands of kilometers.

The study spearheaded by the Ateneo de Manila University VORTEX Research Lab and the Manila Observatory, together with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and Tokyo Metropolitan University, analyzed 53 cases of extreme southwest monsoon rainfall linked to tropical cyclones between 1981 and 2023.

The experts looked for weather patterns that appeared repeatedly across different cases.

They identified a recurring setup: a strengthened monsoon; a tropical cyclone northeast of the Philippines and other atmospheric conditions that allowed large amounts of moisture to flow toward the country.

The study said the factors form what is known as the ‘moisture conveyor belt’ that transports water vapor from the Indian Ocean across Southeast Asia to the Philippines. When these conditions are in place, they often lead to prolonged periods of intense rainfall.

The researchers found that the buildup to these severe rainfall events takes several days.

The research said as the monsoon strengthens over the northern Indian Ocean, it helps establish the moisture conveyor belt that repeatedly, in many of the cases analyzed, indicates that the country’s most severe southwest monsoon events follow a common pattern rather than occur purely by chance.

The experts said the findings could help scientists better recognize the atmospheric conditions that favor these episodes.

The researchers also found that existing operational weather forecasts capture many of these large-scale patterns, providing a foundation for further improving predictions of high-impact southwest monsoon events.

The research was authored by Alwin Andriel Bathan, Lyndon Mark Olaguera, Faye Abigail Cruz, Jose Ramon Villarin, John Manalo and Jun Matsumoto.

Razon-led Manila Water Co. Inc. recorded a six-percent increase in net income in the first half, driven by higher tariffs from its east zone concession area and regional units.

In a stock exchange filing, Manila Water said its consolidated net income amounted to P8.47 billion, higher than the P7.96 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Operating revenues in the January to June period reached P22.19 billion, an 11-percent increase from P20 billion a year ago.

Manila Water said that about 75 percent of its operating revenues were derived from water sales, while the remaining 22 percent came from environmental and sewer charges.

The company added that the 11-percent increase in average tariffs from its main concession area drove the higher earnings in the first semester.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System regulatory office earlier approved an P8.39-per-cubic-meter rate increase for Manila Water, effective at the start of the year.

Also driving the higher topline for the period were tariff hikes from its Clark Water, Boracay Water and other non-east zone businesses and higher supervision fees from Laguna Water.

‘Our first half results show that even in uncertain times, our company can still deliver strong performance, provide reliable service and create lasting value for our stakeholders,’ Manila Water president and CEO Robert Locsin said in a separate statement.

Locsin added that despite the presence of geopolitical concerns and El Niño, the company remains confident in its ability to navigate current headwinds by improving its operation, optimizing resources and strengthening service delivery.

‘In doing so, we can translate operational gains into meaningful financial results, while continuing to provide reliable and essential water service to our customers,’ he added.

In its east zone concession, the company logged a 12-percent increase in revenue to P17.86 billion, while net income was nine percent higher at P7.79 billion in the first half.

It added that its business units outside the concession area saw revenues expand by two percent to P4.86 billion, resulting in a 15-percent increase in net income to P982 million.

Total billed volumes reached 439.4 million cubic meters, while billed connections amounted to 1.42 million.

Manila Water said that its capital expenditures amounted to P6.8 billion in the January to June period, mainly used on wastewater expansion, network reliability and water supply projects.

The Jose Rizal University (JRU) Heavy Bombers tamed the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors, 78-66, for their second straight victory in the Cebu City Collegiate Invitational Basketball Tournament 2026 on Friday night, August 7, at the Cebu City Sports Institute Gym in Barangay Sawang Calero.

Christopher Hubilla chaked up 17 points with six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block while Sean Salvador and Jamhir Eligado tallied 21 points in between them as the Heavy Bombers took the solo leadership with a clean 2-0 slate.

After the close battle in the first two quarters, the Heavy Bombers exploded in the second half. They closed the third period with a 60-47 lead, which peaked at 25 points, 74-49, in the closing seconds of the match.

Lanze Graham Sabroso was the lone double-digit scorer with 13 points for the Red Warriors, who suffered their second loss.

On the other hand, the reigning Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) four-peat champions University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers escaped the Benedicto College Cheetahs with a 79-77 win.

The Lancers led by 17 points, 49-32, at halftime but the gritty Cheetahs battled back to force a 77-77 deadlock..

It was then that Ivan Clark Alsola wore the hero’s cape, making a crucial jumper in the final 50 seconds that became UV’s saving grace.

AJ Sacayan paced the Lancers with 16 points, five rebounds and one assist while Raul Gentallan and Paul John Bautista tallied 14 and 10 markers, respectively.

Den Ric Orgong delivered an impressive 26-point performance laced with two rebounds, three steals and two blocks but to no avail as the Cheetahs fell to 0-2.

Bianca Pagdanganan unleashed another trademark final-round charge, firing a four-under 68 to salvage a joint 10th-place finish in the Smoky Mountain Championship at Green Meadow Country Club in Alcoa, Tennessee on Saturday (Sunday Manila time).

More importantly, the strong finish gave the big-hitting Filipina a timely boost heading into her next Epson Tour campaign, with an LPGA Tour stop providing an added opportunity to sharpen her game against the world’s best before she returns to the developmental circuit later this month.

Pagdanganan, backed by ICTSI, started the final round seven strokes off the lead and never seriously threatened the championship. But her closing 68, highlighted by five birdies, underscored her ability to make a late charge and gave her another Top-10 result on the Epson Tour.

She birdied three of her first eight holes to move from joint 19th after two rounds into the Top 10 group. A bogey on No. 14 briefly stalled her momentum, but she responded with birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 to secure her share of 10th.

Meanwhile, Mirabel Ting outlasted Rachel Kuehn in a playoff after both finished at 15-under 201. The dup shot identical 67s to force sudden death after second-round leader Anne Chen, who held a two-shot advantage going into the final round, slipped to a 71.

Ting recovered from a bogey on No. 13 with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15, while Kuehn fashioned a bogey-free 34-33 card capped by a birdie on No. 16.

Ting then clinched her first Epson Tour title on the opening playoff hole at No. 18. Her drive clipped a tree but took a fortunate bounce into the fairway, from where she struck a 7-iron from 155 yards to within three feet and converted the birdie for the victory.

For Pagdanganan, however, the focus now shifts to an even bigger test – and a potentially valuable tune-up for the next stretch of her Epson Tour campaign.

She is entered in the Standard Portland Classic, an LPGA Tour event set August 13-16 at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Oregon, where she will line up alongside fellow ICTSI mainstay and two-time major champion Yuka Saso.

The LPGA stint comes at an ideal time for Pagdanganan, giving her a chance to test her form against elite competition and fine-tune her game before returning to Epson Tour action. Her next Epson Tour stop is the Wildhorse Golf Classic, scheduled August 21-23 in Pendleton, Oregon.

Pagdanganan will be looking to carry the confidence from her Smoky Mountain Top 10 – and the lessons from her LPGA test – into that event as she seeks a stronger run on the Epson Tour.

Meanwhile, Pauline del Rosario hit two backside birdies to card a second straight 71 and tie for 29th at 6-under 210, while Dottie Ardina birdied the final two holes to close with a 70 and share 36th at 5-under 211.

Good news for TNT and bad news for its challengers: RR Pogoy and Jordan Heading are back in harness.

And with the two key players returning after sitting out the last couple of games due to MCL and shoulder injuries, the Tropang 5G flexed their muscles with a vengeful 114-80 disposal of Titan Ultra in the PBA Governors’ Cup last night at Ynares Center-Montalban.

‘It’s a big thing that we have an almost complete complement at our disposal today,’ said coach Chot Reyes, whose team has been dealing with player injuries since the start of the season-ending conference.

Heading quickly resumed his role as one of the top guns, hitting a game-high 23 spiked by four triples and complementing it with five assists as TNT exacted revenge on the team that gave them the blues in the first round, 87-103.

Pogoy, TNT’s premier two-way forward, only shot four markers but his leadership and strong presence helped a lot as the Tropang 5G got back on track after their 83-88 loss to NLEX.

The Tropang 5G also got a big lift from the strong performances of Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, another recent returnee after a bout with ankle injury who banged in 19, Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson who had 19 and 12, and Rey Nambatac and Kim Aurin who added 14 and 12, respectively.

‘We really made a concerted effort to focus on defense. Even when we lost to NLEX, I thought we played great defense except we just couldn’t put points on the board because we didn’t have Jordan and Roger in that game. Thankfully, we had both of them in’ said Reyes.

This stifling defense choked Titan import Tirrell Brown to a meager 14 on a 6-of-13 field goal. He had 29 when the Giant Risers shocked the Tropang 5G last July 22.

Holding an improved 4-3 win-loss card, TNT strengthened its standing inside the Magic 4 of Group A at No. 3 ahead of closest pursuers Converge (3-4) and Terrafirma (3-4).

The Giant Risers slid to 2-6, finding themselves on the brink in the playoffs race.

Meanwhile, streaking Rain or Shine and Phoenix dispute the solo lead of Group B at 5-2 today at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

With NLEX’ unblemished streak after six games snapped, the Elasto Painters now hold the honors as the hottest team of the conference with a four-match roll, a trend they intend to maintain in the 5:15 p.m. tiff.