Category: Philippine Star

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake shook coastal Currimao, Ilocos Norte, at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday, October 5.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported that the epicenter of the tremor was located in Currimao, Ilocos Norte, at coordinates 18.24°North, 119.93°East 69 kilometers North 70° West of Currimao, Ilocos Norte. It has a depth of 17 kilometers.

The quake was tectonic in origin, and Instrumental Intensity I was recorded in San Nicolas and the City of Laoag in Ilocos Norte, as well as Sinait in Ilocos Sur.

These intensities indicate very weak shaking, typically felt only by a few people under favorable conditions.

Despite the relatively moderate magnitude, residents of Ilocos Norte took to social media, using hashtags like #iFelt_IlocosNorteEarthquake, to report mild swaying and ground vibrations.

Many mentioned that the shaking lasted only a few seconds and did not cause panic.

According to Currimao town mayor Edward Quilala, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office immediately conducted roving and monitoring operations, particularly in coastal areas, to ensure the safety of residents and assess any potential damage.

Phivolcs said no aftershocks or damage are expected from the quake.

As of this report, there are no confirmed reports of damage to infrastructure or injuries.

The floods that swept through dozens of barangays in two provinces of the Bangsamoro region and its Special Geographic Area last month have subsided, but the regional government’s social services ministry continues to provide food rations to evacuees.

Local officials from various towns in Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte told reporters on Sunday, October 5, that personnel from the Ministry of Social Services and Development – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao continued providing food supplies to their displaced constituents until last Friday.

The MSSD-BARMM’s relief operations last week also covered parts of the SGA, which has eight newly created towns under the Bangsamoro government, but are in Cotabato province in Administrative Region 12.

Reports from local government units and the provincial offices of MSSD-BARMM in Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte indicate that the ministry facilitated the delivery of 10,950 food packs last week to Moro families affected by last month’s floods.

MSSD-BARMM field workers also distributed 3,204 hygiene, water, sleeping, and infant kits to villagers in the two provinces and the SGA last week.

Local executives in the eight newly created towns in the SGA separately told reporters on Sunday that they are grateful to officials of the MSSD-BARMM and the chief minister of the Bangsamoro region, Abdulrauf Macacua, for embarking on extensive relief works for barangays under their local government units that got inundated with floodwaters spawned by heavy rains in the mountain ranges around.

The 29 towns in Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte and in the SGA that got flooded last month, are near Central Mindanao’s 220,000-hectare Ligawasan Delta, a catch basin for more than a dozen rivers that spring from mountain ranges in highland areas in provinces nearby.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to study the imposition of a definitive safeguard measure on cement imports following the recommendation of the Tariff Commission (TC).

‘DTI will review the recommendation of the TC,’ Trade Secretary Cristina Roque told The STAR.

The DTI will be making the final decision on whether a definitive safeguard measure would be imposed on cement imports.

In its final report on the formal probe on safeguard measures on cement imports, the TC recommended the imposition of a safeguard duty amounting to P349 per metric ton or P14 for a 40-kilogram bag of imported Portland cement Type 1 and blended cement for a period of three years.

The TC made the recommendation after finding a causal link between the serious injury to the local cement industry and increased imports of cement products.

The recommended safeguard duty is the difference between the weighted average importers’ price of imported cement and the weighted average factory gate price of local cement for 2024.

‘Since it addresses the extent of price undercutting by cement imports based on the latest available data, the commission deems that this level of safeguard duty is sufficient to alleviate the serious injury to the domestic industry and facilitate its adjustment to the adverse effects of increasing cement imports,’ the TC said.

The TC said the definitive safeguard duty would not apply to imports from developing countries with de minimis import volumes such as Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

Back in February, the DTI imposed a provisional safeguard duty of P400 per metric ton or P16 for a 40-kilogram bag of imported cement after it found a link between increased cement imports and injury to the domestic industry.

Under the Safeguard Measures Act, the government may put in place safeguard measures to protect domestic industries from increased imports that cause or threaten to cause serious injury.

Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines Inc. executive director Rey Baja earlier said that the industry needs the safeguard measure for local cement manufacturing to remain viable and to protect local jobs.

Cement manufacturing contributes at least one percent to the country’s gross domestic product. It also provides around 130,000 direct and indirect jobs.

San Juan made history after emerging as grand winner in the highly urbanized city category for Best Tourism-Oriented local government unit (LGU) – the highest honor during the 26th Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines Pearl Awards on Oct. 2 here.

The annual ATOP Pearl Awards recognize outstanding practices, innovations and initiatives of local government units that significantly contribute to the promotion and development of Philippine tourism.

Mayor Francis Zamora, during his acceptance remarks, invited tourism officers to visit San Juan and experience its famed hospitality and historical trail as he congratulated all the winners.

‘I am proud to see our tourism officers working hand in hand to promote Philippine tourism and highlight the unique beauty and strength of each LGU,’ said Zamora who also serves as president of the Metro Manila Council.

Over a thousand tourism officers from towns and provinces as well as from component, independent and highly urbanized cities participated in the event that celebrates the best in Philippine tourism governance and innovation.

The Association of Tourism Officers-National Capital Region bagged the Best Tourism Organization (Regional Level), affirming the collective strength and leadership of Metro Manila’s tourism sector.

Also declared grand winners are Las Piñas for Best Tourism Promotion Video, Muntinlupa for Best Institutionalized Culture and Arts Program, and Pasig for Best Practices on Sustainable Tourism.

Quezon City bagged the Best Event Hosting: International Event and Best Tourism Event: Religious Festival awards.

In our Gospel today (Luke 17:5-10), Jesus tells us that even faith the size of a mustard seed can command a mulberry tree to be uprooted and replanted in the sea. What is meant here certainly goes beyond the literal. No person of faith should go around ordering trees to dig themselves up and plunge into the deep.

Similarly, no interpretation of this passage should ignore the verse before it where Jesus challenges us, ‘If [your brother] wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.’

A mulberry tree is notorious for having a dense network of roots that can spread up to fifty feet from the tree. Imagine the effort needed to trace and untangle this root system that invades and damages building foundations. So too can the hurt from being wronged be described. It invades the deepest core of your being and destroys the foundations of relationships. To forgive is to root out all the ill feelings and risk again. Perhaps this is why the image of uprooting the mulberry tree is paired with planting it in the sea. For the ancient Israelites, the sea symbolized chaos. To forgive is to face turmoil instead of just hiding or running away. Only with faith can we do this.

But what is faith?

The passage about faith uprooting the mulberry tree must also be read with the passage after it. Brace yourself:

‘Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.”

I am not sure how you feel about those lines. Would you prefer what Jesus said five chapters before: ‘Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them’ (Luke 12:37)?

The former passage paints an aloof God, an employer instead of a Father. The latter shows us a more intimate Lord. And isn’t this what Jesus exemplified at the Last Supper? ‘He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist’ (John 13:4-5).

Is your God near or far?

While I am sure we would all prefer the God who is near, I think the answer closer to our experience is: God is both near and far.

We feel God close when blessings surround us, when peace, as the calming hymn sings, is ‘before us, behind us, and under our feet.’ But God may seem distant when those who are just suffer while those who oppress them prosper, when we cannot understand his mysterious ways. During those times, we need faith to hold on until God feels close again.

But what is faith?

Here is one way to understand faith: It is a personal relationship with God that allows us to trust that even when God seems far, he is still somehow near. Even when it seems that God is asking something impossible from us-like forgiving seven times in one day-our relationship with him will also give us the confidence to question and to complain, but ultimately, the strength to do his will. That is faith. It is wrestling with roots that may seem to have trapped us and then diving deeper into our relationship with him.

Nice words. Now here is something to make them real: I recently had a conversation with someone who enlisted in a Bible class I facilitate. I asked him why he was so interested in Scripture. He told me it was because, not too long ago, he had been diagnosed with cancer. His answer puzzled me until I prayed with this Sunday’s Gospel. When the diagnosis dropped like a judge’s gavel, God must have seemed infinitely far. Yet this man sought God even more.

Your prayer assignment for this week:

Imagine yourself in the shoes of that man diagnosed with cancer. What would you do? It may be cheesy, but the voice in my mind cannot help but sing these modified lyrics: ‘Near, far, wherever you are, I believe that our hearts do go on. Once more, you open the door, and you’re here in my heart. And my faith in you will go on.’

A Malacañang official on Friday maintained that the Marcos administration has nothing to do with the crimes against humanity case filed against former president Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

‘We have nothing to do with the ICC case,’ Palace press officer Claire Castro said in an interview with ‘Storycon’ on One News.

Castro clarified that her earlier remarks were misrepresented by Duterte’s defense counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, who claimed that the Philippine government would not object to the former president’s request for interim release.

‘That’s twisting of facts. I did not say that. What I said is, whatever the decision of the ICC, that is a legal process. The government will. respect it,’ she said.

Castro noted that this was not the first time Kaufman distorted statements, citing his earlier claim that the ICC prosecutor would also not object to Duterte’s release.

Disciplinary action

Following the controversy, civil society groups and human rights organizations urged the ICC to impose disciplinary sanctions on Kaufman for allegedly engaging in disinformation.

‘On at least two separate occasions, Mr. Kaufman has distorted the factual record before the Court in order to advance the defendant’s application for interim release,’ the groups said in a joint statement.

They added that Kaufman also misrepresented the remarks of the Palace official, twisting ‘the meaning and implication of Castro’s statement.’

‘Such an assertion is widely removed from the actual position contemporaneously conveyed and subsequently clarified by the Philippine government and transforms its clear deference to the Court into an acquiescence to the Defense,’ they said.

The statement was signed by the Philippine Coalition for the ICC, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity, Duterte Panagutin Network, Center for International Law, Rise Up for Life and for Rights, Philippine Human Rights Information Center, Karapatan and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers.

Also among the signatories were Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima; Akbayan Representatives Chel Diokno, Perci Cendaña and Dadah Ismula; Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao; Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David and 2025 Ramon Magsaysay awardee Flavie Villanueva.

The groups said Kaufman’s ‘deliberate misrepresentation is not harmless or victimless,’ describing it as ‘a pattern of deliberately professing deceptiveness, which misleads claims akin to conveying direct disinformation.’

They urged the ICC Presidency and the Pre-Trial Chamber I, which handles the case against Duterte, to sanction Kaufman for ‘repeated misrepresentation of facts in official filings before the Court and for ultimately engaging in disinformation that undermines the integrity of and public faith in ICC proceedings.’

The signatories also called on the Philippine government to officially disavow Kaufman’s claims and impose disciplinary measures against him, saying his conduct ‘directly undermines the confidence of the global and Filipino public in the Court and dangerously erodes the trust of victims in this independent judicial process as capable of delivering truth-telling and accountability.’

Political motive

Meanwhile, a human rights group claimed that Vice President Sara Duterte is pushing for the interim release of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte for political reasons, not humanitarian ones, saying she needs her father for the 2028 polls.

In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND) made the statement following the defense team’s petition before the ICC seeking Duterte’s interim release.

‘Sara Duterte needs her father Rodrigo Duterte to be in the Philippines to ensure her win in 2028. This is not about bringing a sick old man home, but a political strategy towards the presidency,’ iDEFEND said.

The group, along with other civil society organizations, also opposed the Senate-approved resolution urging the ICC to consider placing Duterte under house arrest on humanitarian grounds.

The measure, a shortened version of a resolution filed by Duterte allies, was passed 15-3-2.

‘Without the UniTeam, Sara Duterte’s ambitions for a smooth transition of power is gone. not with the impeachment trial, possible cases before the ombudsman and the ongoing corruption probe into infrastructure projects involving their contractors and allies in the government,’ iDEFEND said.

The group further cited the Vice President’s poor record in office and said she could only hope to revive her father’s political influence by ensuring his presence in the country.

‘Otherwise, assuming the court follows its schedule, Duterte would be in the middle of a trial while his daughter could be in the middle of a presidential campaign period,’ iDEFEND said.

‘This is the reason why the Duterte family is not focused on the suspect’s legal defense… They only have a political agenda. Let us not be side-tracked by all the noise. iDEFEND calls for the wheels of justice to turn without delay,’ it added.

Investigation on massive corruption should expand from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to the Department of Health (DOH), Mayor Benjamin Magalong said on Friday.

‘Not only DPWH – what’s happening in DOH is getting close, too,’ Magalong said after corruption complaints were filed against Health Secretary Ted Herbosa and five other officials, specifically for misusing P44.6 million worth of government-bought psychiatric medicines, allegedly given to a private group.

‘Si Herboza, malapit na yan,’ he said in radio interview.

Lawmakers have also flagged DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP).

Many health centers supposedly built under the program turned out to be unfinished or unusable, and some were even described as ‘ghost’ facilities.

Lack of staff has made many of them non-operational. Magalong is part of Mayors for Good Governance.

Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, however, questioned Magalong’s own record, citing his P110-million Baguio tennis and parking facility project linked to Discaya-owned St. Gerrard Construction.

Magalong, who resigned from the Independent Commission for Infrastructure on ‘conflict of interest’ concerns, may need to present more solid proof of corruption in the DOH, as he did in the case of the DPWH, according to his detractors.

Even before his shortlived stint as ICI adviser and investigator, he claimed to have already submitted documents and other pieces of evidence to President Marcos to back up his allegations against officials linked to anomalies in flood control projects.

The official number of fatalities of the Sept. 30 magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Cebu went back up to 70 yesterday as the management of the dead and missing cluster led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government continued to validate the reported deaths.

As verified so far, the Office of Civil Defense said 32 of the casualties are from Bogo City, while 14 are from Medellin, 15 from San Remegio, six from Tabogon and one each in Sogod, Tabuelan and Borbon.

The number of reported injuries is currently at 559 – with Bogo City, the earthquake’s epicenter, accounting for 180 people hurt, followed by 150 in Tabogon, 66 in Medellin, 86 in San Remigio, 20 in Tabuelan, eight in Borbon, four in Catmon, 29 in Daanbantayan, 14 in San Francisco and two in Carmen.

Latest data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) said a total of 128,294 families or 457,554 persons were affected by the earthquake.

Of the number, at least 407 families or 1,347 persons from affected communities were served inside four evacuation centers or temporary shelters.

The NDRRMC said a total of 18,154 damaged houses were reported in Central Visayas with 3,507 homes reported as destroyed.

Tent cities

Cebu residents displaced by the earthquake can now have temporary shelter following the tent cities put up by the national government.

Public Works Secretary Vivencio Dizon and Philippine Red Cross (PRC) chairman Richard Gordon yesterday led the establishment of tents in Barangay Cogon in Bogo City, alongside Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco and officials from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Cebu provincial government.

Around 200 tents were put up in Bogo City.

The PRC has brought about 2,500 family tents to be put up in several areas in Cebu. Each tent can accommodate a family of five persons and has blankets and other items for the comfort of the evacuees.

Teresito Bacolcol, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director, said the aftershocks would last for several weeks. He also did not discount the possibility that some of the tremors would have a magnitude of 5.1.

‘Eventually the numbers will decrease. Eventually the magnitude will downgrade,’ he said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City yesterday.

Phivolcs has recorded at least 5,092 aftershocks in Cebu since Tuesday.

Food packs

DSWD has released 75,000 boxes of family food packs (FFPs) to local government units (LGUs) in Cebu, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said yesterday.

He said the 75,000 released FFPs is part of the 142,000 FFPs requested by the 11 quake-hit Cebu LGUs.

The DSWD’s Field Office-7 (FO-7) has deployed its quick response teams in the municipalities of San Remigio and Medellin in Northeastern Cebu to render disaster relief operations.

The FO-7 also continues to lead the profiling of the affected families through the use of Family Access Cards in Emergencies and Disasters in Bogo City.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s Gabriela Silang transported relief goods to West of Sabil Point in San Remigio, Cebu yesterday.

The PCG said that LCT Island Shipping helped in the collaborative effort of the Coast Guard District Central Visayas and Coast Guard Station Northern Cebu.

At least 23 PCG personnel, 20 personnel from LCT Island Shipping and one representative from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) assisted in the delivery of relief goods.

The said relief goods are composed of 3,300 food packs and 2,066 evacuation supply kit from PCSO and 66 sacks of rice from the Coast Guard Civil Relations Service.

PCSO general manager Melquiades Robles said evacuation kits and relief goods were also on their way yesterday to typhoon victims in Masbate.

‘We cannot turn away from the suffering of our fellow Filipinos in Masbate and Cebu,’ Robles said in a statement.

Drop-off points

In a similar development, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has offered to use the Tourist Rest Areas built in the province of Cebu as drop-off points for donations to earthquake victims.

The agency brought up the suggestion after the municipal government of Medellin, one of the towns affected by the powerful temblor, announced it has established a 24/7 drop-off area for relief item donations at the Tourist Rest Area built in front of the municipal hall.

‘Our Tourist Rest Areas here in Cebu, including the one in the Municipality of Medellin, continues to be open and it is ready to receive and be a drop-off point for those who may wish to provide assistance to the Cebuanos affected by this tragedy,’ Frasco said.

‘Other tangible relief aid to Cebu may also be dropped-off to other Tourist Rest Area locations in Moalboal, Carcar and Carmen,’ she added.

At least 33 individuals were arrested and P1.83 million worth of suspected shabu was confiscated during a series of anti-illegal drug operations conducted across Central Visayas from October 3 to 4, according to the Police Regional Office-7.

In a 24-hour span, law enforcement operatives intercepted a total of 269.25 grams of suspected shabu.

The largest haul was recorded in Barangay Catarman, Liloan, Cebu, where authorities seized approximately 150 grams of shabu valued at P1.02 million.

The illegal drugs were recovered from a high-value target apprehended through a joint operation by the Liloan Municipal Police Station, the Provincial Intelligence Unit, and the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit.

PRO-7 reported that Cebu Province accounted for the bulk of the seizures, with P1,076,712 worth of narcotics. This was followed by Bohol Province with P376,040, Cebu City with P184,688, Mandaue City with P173,740, and Lapu-Lapu City with P19,720.

PRO-7 Regional Director Police Brigadier General RedricoMaranan commended the participating police units for their continued efforts in combating illegal drugs.

‘Every gram of shabu seized means a life rescued from the chains of addiction. Our men and women will not pause even in times of calamity because the people of Central Visayas deserve safe and drug-free communities,’ Maranan said.

Despite ongoing relief and clearing operations in areas affected by the recent 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Northern Cebu, PRO-7 assured the public that its anti-drug campaign remains active.

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has expanded its river cleanup program to Alabang River in Muntinlupa.

SMC said the initiative includes clearing obstructions and widening narrow sections of the waterway to ease flooding that has long affected nearby communities and critical roads.

More than 26,000 tons of silt and waste from a 450-meter stretch of the river, starting at its mouth in Laguna de Bay and going upstream near Cupang Bridge, have been cleared in the two months since work started.

‘Our goal is to provide long-term solutions that would ease flooding for the city’s communities and critical roadways,’ SMC chairman and CEO Ramon Ang said.

‘We owe a great deal of gratitude to Mayor Ruffy Biazon for bringing together the concerned agencies to work with us on a comprehensive approach to solve the problem,’ he said.

The operations are part of remedial measures after severe flooding last July 8 left motorists stranded for hours along South Luzon Expressway.

SMC said that a subsequent investigation found that Alabang River was heavily silted and constricted that rainwater could not flow freely along the waterway.

Several sections of the river had also been narrowed by informal structures and new construction, the company said.

SMC shared the findings with Muntinlupa City Mayor Ruffy Biazon, who then welcomed SMC’s deployment of dredging equipment to begin clearing the river a week after a meeting last July 25.

The company has since been coordinating with the Muntinlupa City Engineering Office, the Department of Public Works and Highways and a nearby private subdivision on efforts to restore the river to its natural depth and width.

SMC said that newly installed sheet piles by a private contractor had to be removed as they were obstructing the flow of water along the channel.

It said that efforts would have to include relocating informal settler families along the riverbanks through a well-coordinated relocation effort for affected families.

Apart from Alabang River, SMC has ongoing cleanup operations that have so far removed 268,979 tons of debris from 5.9 kilometers of Parañaque Rivers around NAIA, 256,920 tons from 2.8 kilometers of Navotas Rivers, 479,278 tons from 6.2 kilometers of San Pedro Rivers in Laguna and 19,842 tons from Las Piñas River.