Category: Philippine Star

Hidilyn Diaz’s influence is in full effect.

Weightlifters from her training centers in Rizal and hometown Zamboanga City made their moves even as tracksters propelled Manila to an early lead in the explosive second day of the 2025 Batang Pinoy yesterday at the Barangay Labangal Gymnasium here.

Both avid fans of Diaz with hopes of following her suit, Stephanie Mandigma led Rizal’s three-gold medal haul while Kyle Nathan Kue carried the fight for Zamboanga en route to a five-gold medal harvest.

The 14-year-old Mandigma lifted a total of 113 kilograms to rule the girls’ 40kg division while Kyle Nathan Kue carried a total of 150kg (65 in snatch, 85 in clean and jerk) to reign supreme in the boys’ 12-age category.

‘Coach Hidilyn inspires me. Thankful po ako na maging coach si Hidilyn kasi kung wala po siya, hindi ko makukuha itong gold,’ said Mandigma.

‘It inspires me to work harder so I can be the next Olympian of the Philippines, win many medals throughout my life and become famous like my idol, Ate Hidilyn,’ said Kue.

Pep Samantha Agosto, also from Diaz’s training center in Rizal, topped the girls’ 11-age category with a 135kg lift.

For Zamboanga, Hero Anthony Alas-as (95kg in boys’ 10), Jane Marie Manalo (108kg in girls’ 10), Cydrille Jay Andalahao (115kg in boys’ 38kg division) and Precious Jade Lozada (90kg in girls’ 36kg division) took top honors.

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure has sent a new subpoena to former House appropriations chairperson Zaldy Co for him to appear for its two hearings scheduled in November.

The ICI delivered the Oct. 20 subpoena to Co’s addresses in Pasig City and Bicol, ordering him to appear on November 11 and 12 at 9 a.m., ICI Executive Director Brian Keith Hosaka said at a press briefing on Tuesday, October 28.

Co has yet to return to the Philippines and earlier snubbed the ICI’s first summons for him to attend its October 14 hearing.

That first subpoena to Co was sent alongside subpoenas to former Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Both appeared before the ICI.

Co is being asked by the ICI to explain his role as chair of the House’s powerful appropriations committee, a position he held before stepping down in January.

The ICI initially shared that it had considered citing Co in contempt due to his refusal to show up, but decided not to do so due to a supposed difficulty in serving the first subpoena.

On Tuesday, Hosaka said that if Co fails to heed the ICI’s summons again, they would study if there is “enough basis” to pursue remedial measures, including whether to cite him in contempt.

Co has yet to return to the Philippines amid allegations he masterminded dubious insertions in the 2025 budget to allow for kickbacks in flood control projects. He has since denied these allegations.

The former lawmaker has been tagged by the Department of Justice as a person of interest.

GCash yesterday assured users of the e-wallet that their accounts and funds are secure in the app following an advisory from the National Privacy Commission (NPC) to exercise heightened vigilance after an alleged data leak.

The NPC said it has immediately launched an investigation, after a dark web post appeared Sunday claiming to sell user information.

Based on preliminary results, however, GCash said the datasets being sold online are different from what is being used in the app, denying claims that the hacker has stolen personal information.

‘Further analysis reveals that it includes individuals who are not GCash users, and that many of the entries appear incomplete, inconsistent and invalid. These findings strongly indicate that the material being circulated did not originate from GCash,’ the company operated by G-Xchange Inc. said.

GCash said there is no evidence of any breach into its critical systems, and is presently talking to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, NPC and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center to validate further information on the alleged data breach.

The post, made by a hacker using the alias Oversleep8351, allegedly offered merchant and basic user data, GCash account numbers, linked bank and virtual card accounts and KYC or Know Your Customer records containing names, addresses, employment details and valid Philippine IDs.

The NPC said users of the e-wallet should monitor their accounts and update their passwords to protect their identity.

However, the NPC said it has yet to receive any breach notification from GCash as of yesterday morning, but the agency has scheduled an online conference with the e-wallet.

The NPC said it would make available verified updates on the case as soon as it can, warning the public to refrain from sharing sensitive data while investigation is ongoing.

Oversleep8351

Deep Web Konek, which exposes data leaks in the Philippines, yesterday flagged a supposed sale of personal information from GCash on the dark web by Oversleep8351.

The post claimed that it has records of up to eight million GCash users from 2019 and 2025, such as personal information, bank accounts and e-wallet numbers.

Additionally, Oversleep8351 said the datasets include basic and merchant users, with details as sensitive as valid IDs used to verify the GCash account.

Deep Web Konek said if the data leak is true, it would be one of the largest by a Philippine financial technology company to date.

A P10-billion scam. Air-conditioned detention cells. Two detained VIPs. Dozens of guests. And a feast with 17 dishes including melt-in-your-mouth king crabs and the proverbial juicy and crispy lechon, a fixture at Filipino tables when celebrating the best of times.

My source could not remember exactly when but for sure, this was sometime between 2014 and 2017, at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, where two of three senators charged in the PDAF scam were then detained.

I’m resurrecting this issue because it’s a good reminder of how justice looked for VIPs in the Philippines, now that authorities are trying to assure us that some of those implicated in the flood control corruption scandal will be jailed by Christmas.

PDAF, or the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam – also known as the Napoles pork barrel scam – involved stealing around P10 billion in pork barrel funds that were diverted to fake nongovernment organizations controlled by Janet Lim-Napoles between 2003 and 2013.

Those charged were then senators Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile. The three lawmakers were charged and detained, but were later on acquitted. Enrile was detained at the PNP General Hospital and later on released on bail for humanitarian reasons.

‘Those VIP detention joints’

As for Estrada and Revilla, the two spent time in those detention cells at the PNP Custodial Center, which, according to news footage, looked more like studio units – private, with a single bed and spacious enough for one person, maybe more.

The rooms were a far cry from their sprawling homes for sure, but these were definitely not like those cramped rooms for ordinary detainees.

But that’s not all. My source who once visited the Custodial Center while the two were detained was stunned to find a lavish feast fit for kings – not accused plunderers – laid out on a dining table just outside the detention rooms.

By my source’s own estimate, there were 17 dishes, including the all-time Filipino favorite lechon or roasted pork belly, with its trademark crowning glory – that irresistible golden brown skin, perfectly crisp and crackling with every bite.

There was no special occasion, the source said. It was just another day at the Custodial Center. Indeed, such festivities, it turned out, were not unusual – the tables were often filled with a smorgasbord of food.

As I researched further on how the detention cell looked, I found veteran journalist Inday Varona’s blog post titled ‘Those VIP detention joints.’

Here’s an excerpt:

‘The last we heard from Senator Bong Revilla’s family, following that drawn-out surrender drama, was that he needs an air cooler for his special cell – more a studio – in the Philippine National Police custodial center. His wife, Rep. Lani Mercado, says the heat gives him migraines.

‘Revilla’s new flat may be well below the standards of the clan’s sprawling Cavite homes. But as TV news footage shows, it’s comfortable enough.

‘An outcry soon followed, with memes spreading on social media.

‘One compared the cells renovated for Revilla and Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile – all three charged with the non-bailable crime of plunder – with the bunkhouses for Yolanda survivors. The meme’s subtext is that Revilla and company are accused of heinous crimes while Yolanda folk’s only crime is that of existence.

‘Previous news reports, quoting government agencies, have shown the Yolanda bunk homes to be of substandard stuff. This news video also reports an old man dying from heat stroke and children falling ill. His widow notes the stifling heat. Electricity use is only for light.’

As for Janet Lim-Napoles, who is currently at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City following her conviction for plunder, she was, at the time, detained in a two-bedroom bungalow with a floor area of about 82 square meters at Fort Sto. Domingo. The compound was reportedly guarded by 300 Special Action forces, Varona also said in her blog.

Enrile, who is now chief presidential legal counsel, was cleared of his remaining PDAF-related case at the Sandiganbayan.

Estrada and Revilla have also been acquitted of plunder, though remaining charges are pending for Estrada.

It’s interesting to note that the two were again tagged by alleged key players in the flood control corruption but both denied any involvement in the mess.

Slow wheels of justice

Eleven years after the PDAF scam, this nation of 115 million is facing another historic corruption scandal, the biggest in our nation’s storied journey, with estimated losses potentially hitting the P1-trillion mark.

Investigations are ongoing. Cases are being prepared, some have already been filed, but nobody has yet been sent to jail.

Those implicated are no ordinary Filipinos. The labyrinthine money trail shows current and former lawmakers, ex-DPWH undersecretaries, engineers and billionaire contractors.

Some of them could be recidivists or those who repeatedly commit crimes.

For our beloved Republic, the only way through this is to bring the perpetrators to justice – charged in court, detained for non-bailable offenses and put behind bars if found guilty.

But let’s heed the lessons from the cases of PDAF VIPs. Justice must not be biased toward the powerful. It must be meted out equally to everyone – no lechon parties, no VIP detention quarters, no hospital arrests, not even for lawmakers. If anything, the opposite should hold true: as lawmakers, they should have known better than to violate the laws of the land.

Justice that bends for them is no justice at all.

Sunday evening, I finally had the chance to watch ‘Quezon,’ the third film in the ‘Bayaniverse’ series directed by Jerrold Tarog. The first two films, if one may recall, were the likewise critically acclaimed ‘Heneral Luna’ (2015) and ‘Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral’ (2018).

For me, all three films share a common thread. Each examines, in its own historical moment, the enduring flaws of Filipino politics and leadership: the tension between personal ambition and duty to the nation, the fragility of institutions, and the tragic cycle of heroism undermined by ego and factionalism amid foreign domination.

That is why I encourage everyone to watch these films. If you haven’t seen the first two, watch them first. The production company, TBA Studios, has made them available for free on YouTube in HD quality. Then catch ‘Quezon’ in theaters this week. Hopefully the movie houses extend its run. Together, the trilogy weaves a continuing narrative about how our past leaders’ moral and political choices mirror the dysfunctions that still ail our politics today.

My interest in the movie ‘Quezon’ was actually sparked by a recent controversy in which Enrique Quezon Avanceña, grandson of former President Manuel L. Quezon, confronted the filmmakers and cast during the Q and A session at a special screening in Makati City last week. ‘You ruined the memory of my grandfather,’ he said in Tagalog, as reported by Rappler, voicing strong objections to the film’s depiction of his grandfather, which he said distorted Quezon’s legacy and reduced him into a scheming politician.

The film’s producers later released a statement saying that while they respect the sentiments of Quezon’s descendants, they reiterate that the film is grounded in verified historical accounts, including President Quezon’s own autobiography and other reputable sources. ‘While the film includes fictional elements for thematic purposes, the facts and details presented in the film are easily verifiable through public records, online research, or library resources,’ the producers said.

The film actually has a ‘Study Guide and Companion Book’ downloadable from the websitehttps://activevista.ph/new-library/. It points to specific historians, books, and primary materials such as McCoy (1987), Jose (1999), and Quirino (1971), and even links to public collections. It also itemizes which moments are invented, condensed, or time-shifted, allowing viewers to distinguish fact from dramatization.

But whether ‘Quezon’ is an accurate portrayal of the man or a semi-fictionalized depiction crafted to highlight historical truths about our politics and society is, ultimately, less important than the larger conversation it provokes –about how moral vision is tested in the messy, transactional world of politics (Philippine politics at that), and how factionalism, patronage, and personal ego pierces the myth-making of our history books, which tend to sanitize our leaders’ flaws.

In the words of my good friend Januar Yap, a professor on study leave from University of the Philippines Cebu and a PhD candidate in Media and Communication at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia: ”Quezon,’ the film, strips the blinders to make us understand that much of what happens in politics happens outside the public sphere. The obvious optics are but tips of the iceberg, a craftwork of intermediation, intense lobbying of private interests and, yes, public welfare as well. The volume of truth is submarine.’

Without overlooking their title defense in the ‘Thrilla in Manila 2’ main event at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, the camp of World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight champion remains determined to achieve an ultimate goal.

That is, to get back at Puerto Rico’s Oscar Collazo, Jerusalem’s former tormentor who currently holds the World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association versions of the crown.

‘Anytime, anywhere. Oscar Collazo, that’s the fight we want,’ Jerusalem’s promoter, the youthful JC Mananquil of Sanman Boxing, told Philstar.com during the ceremonial weigh-ins Tuesday at the Quantum at Gateway Mall in Quezon City.

‘Melvin will avenge his defeat,’ added Mananquil, referring to his ward’s technical knockout loss to Collazo in 2023.

But first, the 31-year-old Jerusalem (24-3, with 21 knockouts) must get past South Africa’s Siyakholwa Kuse (9-2-2, 4 KOs) in the celebratory show for the 50th anniversary of the famed ‘Thrilla in Manila’ showdown between heavyweight greats Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

Jerusalem and Kuse both weighed in at 104.8 pounds, looking primed for their 12-round battle.

‘Sobrang excited ako kasi atin ito e. Saka 50th anniversary ito ng ‘Thrilla in Manila’,’ said the pride of Bukidnon, who will be making the third defense of his belt.

Jerusalem isn’t the only Filipino 105-pound titleholder who’s after Collazo’s scalp. Pedro Taduran already took care of business when he battered countryman Christian Balunan en route to a lopsided decision to defend the International Boxing Federation minimumweight crown last Sunday.

Taduran, too, wants an immediate shot at the undefeated Collazo (13-0, 10 KOs).

Collazo, for his part, is raring to unify all four belts.

Nobody is coming for me, I’M COMING FOR BOTH OF YOU, keep holding my belt https://t.co/E6jDHVesUl

– Oscalito (@Oscalito6) October 26, 2025

‘Nobody is coming for me, I’M COMING FOR BOTH OF YOU, keep holding my belt,’ Collado posted on X (formerly Twitter) the other day.

‘It depends kung sino unahin niya (Collazo). But eventually (it will be) Collazo (for us),’ Mananquil said.

‘We’re gonna finish the business tomorrow. Then Collazo, anytime,’ added Jerusalem’s promoter.

Police shot dead a father who held hostage four people, including his two children, aged 5 and 7, in Barangay Sampaloc 4 in Dasmariñas City, Cavite yesterday.

According to police, the man was stabbing his 7-year-old son when responding officers arrived at the scene.

This was after the man stabbed his 5-year-old son to death as well as injured a 30-year-old neighbor and her daughter in University Hills Estate Subdivision.

Rescuers rushed the three surviving victims to the Pagamutan ng Dasmariñas for treatment of stab wounds.

Initial investigation showed that the man was suffering from anxiety and had kept himself and his sons locked inside their house for two days.

Search and retrieval operations for the remains of missing cockfight enthusiasts or sabungeros in Taal Lake have been suspended due to poor weather conditions worsened by the latest three volcano eruptions, according to the Department of Justice.

DOJ spokesman Polo Martinez cited a Philippine Coast Guard report that said all operations were halted due to ‘deterioration of prevailing weather conditions.’

‘Primarily, there is significantly poor underwater visibility. However, all operating units remain on standby and are prepared to resume operations once weather conditions improve,’ Martinez said.

On Oct. 26, Taal Volcano had three minor eruptions – one phreatic and two phreatomagmatic events lasting from one to four minutes – as the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded 33 volcanic earthquakes.

Authorities have recovered from Taal Lake 981 bones, as of Oct. 12. Of the number, at least 887 were identified as human.

Among the recovered fragments were three sets of human remains, consisting of 264 bones. Investigators have yet to obtain DNA samples that would lead to the identification of the remains.

The search for the remains of missing sabungeros in Taal Lake began after whistleblower Julie ‘Dondon’ Patidongan claimed that more than 100 sabungeros were kidnapped, killed and dumped in the lake.

The case of the missing sabungeros led to the filing of multiple murder and serious illegal detention complaints against businessman Charlie ‘Atong’ Ang, actress Gretchen Barretto and 61 others.

No one loves the value-added tax (VAT). Everyone seeks to make cheap political hay demanding that the tax be abolished.

Over the past two decades or so, however, the VAT has kept our fiscal position anchored despite a chronic inclination to spend beyond our means. When everything else was fluctuating, the tax was a predictable source of revenue.

Because of the VAT, the country won several upgrades in its credit rating. We have pushed to the verge of investment grade.

The upgrades are not insignificant. They allowed the country to refinance its outstanding debt at lower rates. Without those upgrades, given our yawning budget deficit, we might have found ourselves standing on the brink of a debt crisis.

There is some talk that the VAT rate might be escalated to 15 percent next year from the current rate of 12 percent. This is because our budget deficit has been rising due to extensive subsidy programs. Also, public outrage over the gargantuan looting of our infrastructure funds is expected to translate into reluctance to pay taxes.

Our economy is expected to take a hit from the raging corruption scandal. Investments will likely slow down until some political certainty is recovered. Our growth rate will suffer. There will be no improvement in the poverty rate.

We are on the verge of passing an unprecedented national budget for 2026. But slower economic growth will not enable us to outgrow the outstanding debt. Our borrowing escalated over the past few years and we are beginning to test the limits of sustainability.

Lackluster governance and weak leadership put us in real danger of downgrades to our credit risk ratings. Should that happen, it will be more expensive for us to refinance our standing debt – and even harder to find lenders willing to risk exposure to a country that seems headed to prolonged political turbulence.

More than ever, we need the VAT to keep our fiscal position on even keel – poor governance notwithstanding. However, as the economic situation deteriorates, it becomes more tempting for politicians and rabble-rousers to demand abolition of the VAT. It is an issue that easily resonates with a public afflicted with a weak grasp of fiscal issues.

We do have the highest VAT rates in the region. But any rash move to reduce the VAT rate or abolish the tax completely will create even more trouble for our economy. We will be perceived as default-prone. We might have to impose a crippling austerity program across the board. This will bring us back to the stagnation of the eighties and the nineties.

The first thing on our agenda should be to dramatically reduce the volume of corruption. Only after bringing down the volume of corruption can we begin to think about making our taxation a little more benign.

More ghosts

The more we look, the more corruption we see.

Beyond the truly scandalous flood control projects, we now find substandard or ghost projects involving so many other government contracts. Among these is the multibillion-peso Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) that remains incomplete seven years after the contract was awarded to a consortium that includes a foreign partner, Dermalog.

Over the years, the COA raised numerous red flags over inexplicable delays, overpayments, system glitches and other irregularities. Endless hearings have been held at the House and the Senate. The matter has been elevated to the Supreme Court.

Last September, Solicitor General Darlene Berberabe urged the court to ‘void the contract between the LTO and the German Dermalog joint venture’ for the LTMS. She described this contract as ‘unreliable, dangerous and poses a greater threat to the interest of the State and to national security.’

The Solicitor General is likewise pleading that the court stop the LTO from further implementing the LTMS ‘to avoid serious damage to the government and the public, and to stop the LTO from further paying Dermalog.’ The only viable recourse is for the court to order Dermalog to release and turn over the source code and database to the LTO. Anything less would deal the State irreparable harm.

Yet no official linked to this mess nor the foreign contractor faced any legal consequences. Accountability remains elusive.

In the seven years since the contract was awarded, the LTO should be benefitting from more efficient access to information. Such access should propel improvement of services, including online registration of vehicles that spares millions of Filipinos from the hassle of long waits. If this information system was fully functional, it should not have taken more than a few minutes to check the validity of the registration papers of the fleet of luxury vehicles acquired by the Discaya couple.

The faulty system installed by the contractors slowed down efforts to fully digitalize operations at the LTO. It penalizes all those who transact with the LTO – especially as vehicle owners are charged inflated fees. In the end, because this project was funded using taxpayer money, the burden of failure is borne by all taxpayers.

It is time to declare this project an abject failure. The original sin, it appears, is in the decision to award this large contract through regular public bidding instead of through a Public-Private Partnership. All the mishaps that happened derives from this basic error.

For all its lapses, the LTMS must be considered a ghost project.

Korean actor Ji Chang-wook is joining a number of Filipino personalities including Jodi Sta. Maria and Janella Salvador in a special food show introducing Filipino dishes to Koreans.

Chef Joseph Patrik “JP” Anglo of Makati’s Sarsa and Dubai’s Kooya fame recently shared posts of a “cooking reality show” shoot in Korea involving Chang-wook, Jodi, Janella, Francine Diaz and Arci Muñoz.

“Two cultures. One kitchen. Korean and Philippine exchange,” Chef JP wrote in one post.

Another post by the chef saw him sharing they ran a pop-up Filipino restaurant in Seoul’s Gangnam district for a week, working up to 16 hours each day.

The latter was a video of Chef JP and company all working around a huge metallic spit cooking lechon in a makeshift establishment called “Kumusta.”

“Hellow I am Mr. Litson,” Chang-wook jokingly commented on Chef JP’s video.

Later in the video, the group listened as Janella performed a cover of the Eraserheads’ “With A Smile.”

“Kumusta” is reportedly the name of the show itself by TV5 but produced by a Korean creative team, serving Filipino favorites like Inasal, Kare-Kare and Sisig.

According to the Korea Times, Chang-wook helped not just by cooking but by managing the pop-up restaurant, greeting customers and helping the Filipino team feel welcome.

The shoot took place just days after Chang-wook’s third-ever visit to the Philippines for the eighth anniversary show of I Am Worldwide, sharing the stage with the Nation’s Girl Group BINI and new K-pop group NTX.

Chang-wook is best known for his roles in the shows “Empress Ki,” “Suspicious Partner,” ” The Queen Woo,” “Healer,” “The Worst of Evil,” “Gangnam B-Side,” “Lovestruck in the City” and “The K2.”

While no release date has been set yet for “Kumusta,” Chang-wook will next be seen in “The Manipulated” opposite EXO’s Doh Kyung-soo, better known as D.O.