Category: Philippine Star

In her younger days, Jomary Torres went from farming to taking odd jobs to make a living.

Then martial arts opened the horizons for her.

From planting rice and potatoes back home in Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte, serving as nanny when she traveled to Manila to make ends meet, the 29-year-old Torres is now winning fights including this one in the Asia and Oceania Sambo Championships where she struck gold yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Torres, who had forays in mixed martial arts after running into former Asian Games wushu champion Rene Catalan by chance, bested Dilbara Raimzhanova of Kyrgyzstan and Zhadya Paiyz of Kazakhstan to seize the women’s adult combat -50-kilogram mint before an appreciative weekend crowd.

It was one of the two golden feats by the country after Aumaegel Princess Cortez, another veteran internationalist, also came through by trouncing Kazakhstan’s Mervet Berdikhanova in the women’s adult combat -59kg final of this event presented by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Sydney Sy failed to make it a golden treble after she succumbed to Kazakhstan’s Arailym Abenova and settled for the silver in the women’s combat adult +80kg.

Going into the final day, the country hiked its medal haul to two golds, three silvers and five bronzes.

President Marcos cited yesterday the improvements in flood-prone areas in Quezon City with the ongoing implementation of the G. Araneta drainage improvement project.

Marcos inspected the completed portion of the project, which is part of the government’s ‘Oplan Kontra Baha’ program.

‘It seems to be effective, because I’ve talked to some residents here. They said that in the past, floodwater would submerge the first two floors of their homes even with a little rain,’ Marcos said.

‘This is just one-half (of the drainage improvement project). We will do the same on the other side so that water can really drain out quickly, and there will be no more flooding here on G. Araneta Avenue, here in Tatalon,’ he added.

Marcos said the Department of Public Works and Highways would work closely with the Quezon City government to prevent the accumulation of garbage that could clog the newly built drainage system and cause flooding.

‘We will ask Mayor Joy (Belmonte) for help in creating a system to ensure consistent declogging (of the waterways). The residents are already doing it, they are de-clogging. But only on a small scale. With so much garbage, we really need to have a system,’ the President said.

The German developer of online game ‘GoreBox’ has declined an invitation to attend an upcoming Senate probe on Monday’s shooting incident at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban.

Felix Filip of F2Games, an independent game developer based in Germany, informed the Senate committee secretariat via email that he would not join the July 1 hearing, whether in person or virtually.

Filip expressed condolences to the families of the students killed in the school shooting launched by two minors aged 14 and 15, who are reportedly players of the game.

‘Before anything else, I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of the victims, to the students and staff of San Jose National High School and to the wider community in Tacloban City. What happened on 22 June is a profound tragedy, and those affected by it deserve to be at the center of this matter,’ he said in an email, a screenshot of which was sent by Sen. Risa Hontiveros’ office.

Filip, describing himself as an ‘independent game developer in Germany,’ said he declined the invitation ‘after careful consideration.’

He told the committee that the game he developed is not ‘intended’ to be played by minors.

‘I appreciate the committee’s attention to the safety of young people, and I am grateful for your understanding of my decision,’ Filip said.

‘I would respectfully note only, for the committee’s record, that GoreBox is classified 18+ and is not intended for, or directed at, minors,’ he added.

On its Google Play and Steam pages, GoreBox is described as ‘a chaotic, physics-driven sandbox game where creativity meets unrestrained destruction…’ with ‘an intense gore system that brings dismemberment to life.’

Hontiveros, who is set to lead the probe expressed disappointment with Filip, but vowed to seek help from the German embassy in the Philippines to compel his attendance.

‘It is disappointing that Mr. Filip chose not to attend our upcoming hearing, especially since I would have liked to learn a lot from him in person,’ Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros lamented the German developer’s refusal to hold himself accountable for the deaths in the Tacloban school shooting incident, adding that the committee only wanted to know if the minors were ‘groomed’ or ‘radicalized’ to espouse violence while playing the game.

‘Any developer or online company that wants to operate here, profit from Filipino users and reach Filipino children must respect our laws and our institutions,’ Hontiveros said.

The southwest monsoon will bring scattered rains in Luzon and the Visayas today, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

Cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms will prevail over Metro Manila, Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cavite, Batangas, Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Antique, Iloilo, Guimaras, Batanes and Babuyan Islands while Pangasinan, Zambales and Bataan will have occasional rains.

Meanwhile, Caraga, Davao Region and Southern Leyte will have cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms caused by the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

The rest of Mindanao will have partly cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers amid the localized thunderstorms.

PAGASA is not monitoring any low-pressure area after Francisco and Gardo left the Philippine area of responsibility.

More than a thousand Moro and non-Moro residents in two tremor-stricken areas received relief provisions this week from the Bangsamoro regional government, local executives announced on Saturday, June 27.

Radio reports on Saturday quoted local executives in General Santos City in Region 12 and in Balut Island in Sarangani town in Davao Occidental in Region 11 as saying that teams from the Ministry of Social Services and Development-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao delivered to them this week more than 10 tons of food supplies for their constituents affected by the 7.8 Magnitude earthquake last June 8.

Subordinates of BARMM’s chief minister, Abdulrauf Macacua, and the autonomous region’s social services minister, Raissa Jajurie, together facilitated the relief missions in General Santos City and in Balut Island in Sarangani town, both badly devastated by the June 8 tremor that jolted the Soccsksargen area, parts of Region 11, or the Davao region, the Zamboanga peninsula in Region 9 and the Bangsamoro region.

The Soccsksargen area encompasses the neighboring provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani and General Santos City, where 23,229 families, or 95,502 individuals were displaced by the June 8 powerful tremor.

Radio reports had pointed out that the earthquake displaced hundreds of Muslim and Christian families in Davao Occidental’s Sarangani municipality, whose territory covers 17 barangays, some of which are in Balut Island.

Sarangani Mayor Adelan De Arce had told reporters that he is grateful to the BARMM government for having provided his constituents in Balut Island with relief supplies despite its distance from the autonomous region’s capitol in Cotabato City, which is more than 600 kilometers away.

Local executives in General Santos City were quoted in radio reports on Saturday as saying that a thousand families in different barangays under their jurisdiction benefited from the MSSD-BARMM’s humanitarian mission this week.

South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., speaking as chairperson of the multi-sector Regional Peace and Order Council 12, said on Saturday that he and members of the RPOC 12, among them local executives in the Soccsksargen area, appreciate the MSSD-BARMM’s outreach activity in General Santos City.

‘We in the Regional Peace and Order Council 12 are thankful to the Bangsamoro government for that,’ Tamayo told reporters.

Local executives in General Santos City had separately said the MSSD-BARMM channeled through officials of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos in Region 12 the relief supplies earmarked for their constituents.

The Office of Civil Defense 12 had reported that, as of Saturday, a total of 60 individuals in the Soccsksargen area were confirmed to have died from injuries caused by the June 8 earthquake.

The OCD had also stated in its report released on Saturday that the cost of large buildings, houses and other infrastructures in Soccsksargen the earthquake destroyed is now P2.3 billion, based on compiled assessments by government engineers and local government units in the area.

For red-tagging health care workers, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has suspended for six months the medical registration of Lorraine Marie Badoy, former spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

In the decision released yesterday, the PRC’s Board of Medicine found Badoy guilty of violating the Revised Code of Ethics of the Medical Profession for unethical and unprofessional conduct.

‘During the period of suspension, (Badoy) is prohibited from engaging in the practice of medicine. Furthermore, (she) shall not be authorized to resume the practice of medicine unless she files an affidavit of compliance,’ the decision read.

The decision stemmed from Badoy’s public statements linking Dr. Ma. Natividad Castro to the Communist Party of the Philippines. Castro is a community physician and is affiliated with the Alliance of Health Workers.

The Movement Against Disinformation lauded the PRC decision, saying Badoy’s accusations against healthcare workers were without evidence.

‘A medical license carries public trust. It cannot become a shield for reckless, evidence-free vilification,’ said Rico Domingo, the group’s founding chairman.

The root of corruption and societal ills is self-centeredness, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kidapawan said.

During his homily on Sunday, June 28, before the White Ribbon Movement rally, the movement’s co-convenor, Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, urged the faithful to look deeper, asserting that the true root of sin and global chaos is self-centeredness, a state where an individual focuses solely on their own personal benefit.

‘Kapag sarili ang sentro, hahatong tayo sa kasakiman, pagkaka-kanya-kanya at ang temptasyon ng korapsyon,’ Bagaforo said.

(When the self is the center, we will head toward greed, look out only for ourselves and face the temptation of corruption.)

‘Kapag si Kristo ang sentro, matututo tayong magmahal, maglingkod, magsakripisyo at magmalasakit,’ he added.

(With Christ at the center, we learn to love, serve, sacrifice and care.)

Bagforo warned that when the self becomes the center of everything, empathy for others gradually disappears.

This mindset, he explained, makes abuse of power and corruption incredibly easy to commit.

He also lamented how this reality manifests among leaders who are elected and trusted to serve citizens.

‘Sapagkat ang taong tunay na nagmamaghal, ay hindi magnanakaw sa kapwa,’ Bagaforo said.

(Because a person who truly loves will not steal from their fellow human being.)

‘Ang tanong sa ebanghelyo ngayon ay hindi lamang mahal mo ba ang Diyos kundi ang tanong sino ba talaga ang inuuna mo ang sarili mo o ang Diyos at ang kapwa? Dahil doon nakasalalay ang kalidad ng ating pagiging tagapagsunod ni Hesus,’ he added.

(The question in today’s gospel is not just whether you love God, but rather, who do you actually put first-yourself, or God and your neighbor? Because that is what determines the quality of our discipleship as followers of Jesus.)

The Mass was concelebrated by Novaliches Bishop Roberto Gaa and other priests from the EDSA Shrine.

The Mass was one of the events of the White Ribbon Movement protest against corruption and political dynasties.

The bicameral conference committee adopted the final version of the proposed Basic Education Voucher Program Act, which seeks to expand the subsidies given to kindergarten to senior high school students in qualified private schools.

Under the bill, eligible students are allowed to enroll in private institutions to help decongest overcrowded public schools.

‘The proposed voucher program is designed not only as a financing mechanism but as a targeted tool to ease pressure on overcrowded public schools while improving access to better-resourced private institutions and strategically allocating vouchers to areas with the greatest need,’ the Second Congressional Commission on Education said.

Crime incidents in Baguio rose by 3% in the first five months of 2026, driven mainly by an increase in property-related offenses, according to the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO).

Data presented during the second quarter joint meeting of the City Peace and Order Council and the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council showed 300 index and non-index crimes recorded from January to May, up from 292 during the same period last year.

While non-index crimes declined to 166 cases from 184, index crimes climbed 23% to 134 from 109. BCPO director Police Col. Ruel Tagel said the increase was largely due to theft, robbery and other property crimes, which mostly occurred late at night in areas without closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and during rush hours.

Tagel said most robbery and theft suspects were repeat offenders facing socio-economic difficulties. Motorcycle thefts, meanwhile, were usually reported at night in undesignated parking areas. Ongoing investigations also slightly pulled down the city’s crime solution and crime clearance efficiency.

To curb the rise in crime, the BCPO is redeploying personnel, stepping up inspections of business establishments, and recommending administrative action against establishments operating without functional CCTV systems.

Police are also working with barangay officials to monitor repeat offenders, expand the ‘Panag-aywan ti Kailyan 2.0′ public safety program, intensify enforcement of local ordinances, and enhance investigators’ case monitoring and tracking through specialized training.

Veteran singer-songwriter Jose Mari Chan issued a clarification regarding his viral comments that he does not receive royalties anymore for his music spanning decades.

Chan made the remarks during the press conference of his upcoming “Afterglow: Seasons of the Heart” concert next month, leading people to believe he no longer gets paid through royalties.

The artist later made it clear he doesn’t receive royalties from physical music formats like CDs, cassette and vinyl record sales, but still does for other royalty forms.

Universal Records Managing Director Kathleen Dy-Go echoed Chan’s explanation, noting how it highlights the growing decline of physical album sales as people are shifting to consuming music digitally.

“As physical music formats have gradually declined over the years, so have the royalties associated with those sales,” the executive continued. “His statement should not be construed to mean that he no longer receives royalties from his music altogether.”

Dy-Go assured that artists still earn royalties through digital streaming platforms, music publishing, synchronization licenses, public performances, and other authorized uses of their recordings, reiterating that physical media aren’t the primary source of music consumption now.

“The music industry has evolved significantly over the years. Today, artists have various revenue streams beyond physical album sales, including streaming services, publishing rights, licensing and other royalty collection mechanisms,” she added.

Some hits by Chan include “Beautiful Girl,” “Can We Just Stop and Talk Awhile,” and “Christmas in Our Hearts,” the latter of which is no doubt repeatedly streamed on digital platforms whenever September rolls in.