Category: Philippine Star

Sen. Bong Go visited the families affected by fire in Sampaloc, Manila on Wednesday and provided them with additional assistance to help them recover from their loss.

‘Material things can be bought, money can be earned, but life cannot be bought. A lost life is a life lost forever,’ Go said as he reminded the victims on the importance of prioritizing and valuing life more than material things.

Go, in coordination with the Manila city government, collaborated with the national government in providing help through the Emergency Housing Assistance Program – an initiative he supported to help families rebuild their destroyed houses.

As principal author of the Bureau of Fire Protection Modernization Act of 2021, Go also advocates for enhanced firefighting capabilities by modernizing BFP equipment, hiring more personnel and offering specialized training programs.

Go, also known as Mr. Malasakit, provided snacks, caps, fans, vitamins, shirts, basketballs and volleyballs to 286 affected families in Barangays 459 and 548.

As vice chair of the Senate committee on health and demography, Go encouraged everyone to visit any Malasakit Center whenever they need medical assistance.

In Manila, these centers are in Tondo Medical Center, Philippine General Hospital, Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center and San Lazaro Hospital.

The town of my late father, Dumanjug, is the most progressive town in the 7th District. It is the home of three governors and two fantastic contractors. Today and tomorrow, the Dumanjuganons celebrate the solemnity of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi led by Mayor Gungun Gica and Vice Mayor Wado Gica. Shoutout to my relatives especially the great clan of the Quirantes, especially engineers Alan and Jonathan.

Dumanjug is the home of Cebu’s fourth governor, Dionisio Jakosalem, born on December 24, 1859 and who served as governor from 1907 to 1912 and became a Cabinet member thereafter. The twenty-fourth governor was Pablo Garcia who served from 1995 to 2004. The twenty-fifth and the twenty-seventh was Gwendolyn Garcia who served first from 2004 to 2012. She was elected and served again from 2019 to 2025.

Dumanjug is also the home of Engr. Alan Quirante who has become famous these last few weeks because, by his amazing entrepreneurial prowess and effective connections, he transformed a small single proprietorship into a multi-million conglomerate which has been able to win many public biddings and amass billions worth of public works, including a number of flood-control projects. His nephew also put up Quirante Construction Corp., under his tutelage and mentorship and this company was able to get many multi-million government projects, including Lapu-Lapu where the former mayor and now congressman, Ahong Chan, is also related by blood to the Quirantes.

Dumanjug Mayor Gungun Gica is the son of the brilliant Ateneo-trained lawyer Edgar Gica and a beauteous and regal lady, Marna Zozobrado. Gungun is also the grandson of former Dumanjug mayor Guntrano “Noy Ano” Gica. Gungun, like his dad and granddad, is a strict disciplinarian, and a stickler for public order and safety. He was able to eradicate the previously-rampant drug problem in the town. He defeated the brother of former governor Gwen Garcia in a hotly-contested election. Today, he is virtually invincible. No one would dare run against him, except a token and symbolic run by a lawyer relative whom Gungun handily defeated twice already.

Today, Dumanjug is a very progressive town, which Gungun raised from a fourth-class municipality into a third class, soon to be second class. Its annual revenue as of 2022 was ?273.1 million, its assets were valued at ?1.034 billion, its expenditure was ?238.7 million and its liabilities amounted to ?365.6 million. The only problem is that its poverty incidence was measured at 37.87%. More than one-third of its residents are living below the poverty line. The economy is largely based on agriculture and small-scale and medium-scale industries. The Dumanjug Agora Complex, constructed under the Gica administration, is the center of the town’s trade and commercial activities.

Dumanjug hosts the headquarters of CEBECO 1 that distributes power to its neighboring municipalities. The town has a number of resorts and restaurants and some poultry establishments that contribute to its economy and give employment opportunities to its growing labor force. It has a RO/RO wharf in its Barangay Tangil, which provides sea transport to and from the city of Guihulngan in Negros Oriental. Food items, vegetables and livestock are regularly transported between the Negros Island and Cebu and vice-versa. Dumanjug also offers a number of beautiful tourist sites.

Education is a priority focus area in Dumanjug as it operates no less than 30 public and private basic education centers, as well as six secondary schools and two tertiary educational institutions. One of its oldest institutions is the Little Flower School, which was established in 1946 as the Dumanjug branch of the old Colegio de San Carlos (now the University of San Carlos). It was later renamed Dumanjug Catholic High School. Currently, it is being administered by the sisters belonging to the Oblates of Notre Dame. The town’s biggest educational institution based on student population is the Bitoon National Vocational School. In the same location is a satellite campus of the Cebu Technological University.

The Parish Church of Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the oldest churches in the entire country. More than 95% of Dumanjug residents are Catholic. Today, we shall witness the famous Bisnok Festival as we salute the town’s officials led by Mayor Gungun and Vice Mayor Wado, with Councilors Arthur Famor Rene Asentista, Erick Gica, Elie Luage, Belinda Quirante, Cardo Condes, Kevin Pan, and Isaac Cambalon. Happy fiesta celebration to all Dumanjuganons from all over the world.

The 21st edition of the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is now underway, finding a new home this year at the Shangri-la Plaza mall in Mandaluyong.

With Cinemalaya’s main home the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) still in renovation, the renowned festival has been shifting locations the past couple years, setting up shop in the Philippine International Convention Center and Parañaque’s Ayala Malls Manila Bay.

Shangri-la Plaza hosted the festival’s opening ceremony last October 3 ahead of 10 days of screenings, an honor it shares with select cinemas across Metro Manila including Gateway Cineplex and U.P. Town Center.

Actress-singer Julia Clarete, Directors Showcase Best Supporting Actress winner of Cinemalaya 2011 for “Bisperas,” hosted the ceremony which culminated in a screening of Indian film “Ha Lyngkha Bneng (The Elysian Field)” by Pradip Kurbah.

This year’s edition bears the theme “Layag sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos” which CCP president Kaye Tinga said reflects how festival entries “capture movements to moments in space and time.”

Deputy festival director Tess Rances noted in her speech that five of last year’s entries, led by Best film winner “Tumandok” and Special Jury Prize winner “Alipato at Muog,” received numerous accolades in different competitions.

“While millions of taxpayers are skimmed by politicians who are supposed to be in service of them, artists scrape the bottom of the pot to bring their ideas to life,” said Rances, taking a dig at lawmakers recenty tagged in corruption.

Rances urged the government to allocate funds for the arts, particularly for programs dedicated to film, “Laban po lahat ang korupsyon at suportahan ang sining.”

Veteran actress and Cinemalaya Foundation president Laurice Guillen, in formally opening this festival’s edition, noted in her own speech that 197 films by 165 filmmakers have been screened since Cinemalaya began back in 2005.

Echoing Rances’ words, Guillen recalled how National Artists Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal reflected Philippine society in their films during 1970s and 1980s.

Guillen said Bernal’s films, regardless of genre investigated the human condition and articulated such through his characters while noting that Brocka described the injustices of his time as “madness” and his characters “fought against all odds to bring sanity back in a world gone mad.”

“Every voice can bring hope, every voice that believes in the triumph of the human spirit is a spark that can bring change,” Guillen ended. “That is the challenge for the creative industry, for our filmmakers, and for Cinemalaya.”

The 21st Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival runs until Oct. 12, 2025.

The Philippines has sharply expanded its startup incubation network under the 2019 Innovative Startup Act, but officials warned that limited funding, overlapping mandates and staffing constraints are holding back the sector’s potential.

At the Geeks On A Beach (GOAB 2025) technology conference in Cebu at Jpark Island Resort and Waterpark in Mactan, representatives from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the law provided a framework to nurture entrepreneurs but lacked the resources to match its ambition.

From just 12 incubators before the law’s passage, the country now counts 81, mostly embedded in universities and regional hubs, according to DOST Chief Technology Transfer Officer Russell Pili.

These facilities have backed 103 startups with a combined P398 million ($6.8 million) in funding, mainly for prototype development. Regional clusters have also been formed to encourage pitching and investment outside Metro Manila.

‘That’s a good development, but the level of funding remains a challenge,’ Pili said.

‘When the law was passed, no dedicated budget line came with it. We end up carving out resources from research projects and justifying them with the jobs created,’ Pili added.

The DICT in 2024 launched its own grant fund to support early-stage ventures at the prototype stage.

Two cohorts covering 19 startups have been rolled out, said assistant division chief Jeehad Januar Tanggol, but the program has been slowed by delays in regulatory approval and remains modest in scale.

Beyond financing, officials acknowledged coordination gaps.

DOST senior researcher Edward Paul Apigo said overlapping mandates and the absence of dedicated personnel have created confusion for founders. ‘Startups sometimes don’t know which agency to approach, because programs are scattered,’ he said.

While the incubator network has opened opportunities in regional centers, officials warned the momentum will be difficult to sustain without more cohesive support and reliable funding streams.

‘We want to attract people to look at startups in their own regions,’ Pili said.

‘Not all founders have the luxury of travelling to Manila to pitch. But to make that vision work, we need more resources,’ he added.

University of Perpetual Help relied on former FEU Tamaraw Patrick Sleat in pulling off a 67-54 victory over the San Sebastian Stags yesterday that jump started its NCAA Season 101 campaign at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.

The 6-0 forward debuted with 10 points including a triple, four rebounds, five assists and a steal without committing a single turnover before fouling out late in the final quarter.

It was Sleat’s eight points in the opening period that sparked the breakaway run and set the tone for the one-sided win.

‘Patrick was big for us,’ said UPHSD coach Olsen Racela, referring to his former player when he was still with the Tams in the UAAP. ‘He is one player who can create, unselfish and looks for his open teammates and has experience.’

‘We expect a lot of things from him and our players look up to him,’ he added.

In the other game, Jose Rizal U gifted its coach Nani Epondulan a fitting debut as it stunned Letran, 73-69.

Mark Gojo Cruz led the scoring for Perpetual with 15 points, including three booming treys, while John Abis and John Boral, the team’s elder statesmen, chipped in 10 points apiece while combining for 13 rebounds while teaming up with Sleat in presiding over their rock-solid interior defense.

‘I like our defensive effort in this game, that was our battle cry before the game,’ said Racela.

The result spoiled the coaching debut of Rob Labagala at SSC-R.

National Master and international chess arbiter Edgar de Castro, member of the Philippine team to six Chess Olympiads, passed away on Sept. 28 in Alexandria, Virginia after battling cancer for two years. He was 82.

A beloved husband, father and grandfather, De Castro had always been a chess enthusiast until the latter part of his life.

He served as secretary general of the Philippine Chess Federation, forerunner of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, and wrote a widely read chess column for The STAR for years.

The Senate has adopted a resolution urging President Marcos to revert the imported rice tariff rate from the current low 15 percent to 35 percent, in a bid to reduce farmers’ income losses to importation.

The resolution was adopted during the plenary session on Wednesday, and called on the executive to reinstate the ‘most favored nation’ tariff rate back to 35 percent.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, a sponsor of the measure as chair of the Senate committee on agriculture, food and agrarian reform, said in his privilege speech that imported rice should be levied with the previous rate, ahead of the end of the 60-day rice importation ban earlier imposed by the President.

Pangilinan said it is time to raise the tariffs because of low world market prices at $376 per metric ton this year, from $700 per metric ton last year, and the threat of imported rice to the harvest of domestic farmers.

Bringing back the 35 percent tariff rate would strengthen domestic rice production, narrow the gap of farmgate prices and production cost and restore the government’s P27-billion revenue loss due to the lower rate.

The P27-billion could have been used to fund the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which provides financial aid and equipment to farmers.

The move last year to lower the tariff rate from 35 percent to 15 percent resulted in a drop of farmgate price of palay to P7.66 per kilo, below the production cost of P13.51 per kilo, Pangilinan said.

‘The winner? Importers and traders who pocket the difference of P7 at less than P1 per kilo. Who lost? Palay farmers and consumers. The loser: government,’ Pangilinan said in Filipino.

During yesterday’s Senate hearing on the proposed budget of the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev), Senate finance chair Sherwin Gatchalian asked about the executive’s plan to bring back the 35 percent tariff.

DEPDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the agency ‘has been discussing with the President’ the issue of the low rice tariff rate despite a decrease in world prices and a drop in farmgate prices.

Balisacan said one option besides raising the tariff rate is giving price support to farmers, while moderating the increase in tariffs and not putting pressure on inflation.

The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival has tapped renowned local and international filmmakers for the jury of its 21st edition this 2025.

The main competition jury is composed of veteran actor Christopher de Leon, award-winning director Pepe Diokno, screenwriter Michiko Yamamoto, Japan-based Americann critic Mark Schilling, and script consultant and writer Sophia Wellington.

De Leon has been a staple of Philippine entertainment for over five decades, earning him the title “King of Philippine Drama” and the recipient of numerous honors from the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards, the Metro Manila Film Festival and Gawad Urian.

Just a few of his iconic films include “Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos,” “Ganito Kami Noon… Paano Kayo Ngayon?,” “Kakabakaba Ka Ba?,” “Aguila,” “Bituing Walang Ningning,” “Madrasta,” “Dekada ’70,” “El Presidente,” “Smaller and Smaller Circles” and “On the Job: The Missing 8.”

Diokno is best known for directing “GomBurZa” and “Isang Himala,” and his first three films “Engkwentro,” “Above The Clouds,” and “Kapatiran” have screened in a number of international film festivals.

“Engkwentro” won a Special Citation at Cinemalaya 2009 before going on to win “Luigi de Laurentiis” Award for a Debut Film and Orizzonti Prize for Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival.

Yamamoto debuted as a screenwriter in 2003’s “Magnifico” and followed it up with the screenplays for “Santa Santita,” “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros” and “Zombadings: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington.”

She also wrote the screenplays of “On the Job,” its sequel “On the Job 2: The Missing 8,” “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2,” and “Honor Thy Father” with her husband, director Erik Matti.

Schilling reviews Japanese films for Japan’s oldest English-language newspaper The Japan Times, covers Japan for Variety, and serves as a program advisor for the Udine Far East Film Festival.

Wellington previously taught at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts Asia’s MA in Film and Dramatic Writing and is currently the Head of Screenwriting at the London Film School.

Three esteemed filmmakers make up the jury for the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award: Loy Arcenas, Ina Feleo, and Pradip Kurbah.

Arcenas started out as a production designer before venturing into writing and directing beginning with “Niño” and “REquieme!” which won back-to-back Cinemalaya Special Jury Prizes.

“Niño” also won supporting actor honors for Arthur Acuña and Shamaine Buencamino and the Best Production Design award while “REquieme!” also won Best Screenplay.

He also wrote and directed “Elehiya” and “Ang Larawan,” the latter a musical film adaptation of Nick Joaquin’s “A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino” which won five awards at the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival, including Best Picture.

Feleo won Best Actress in Cinemalaya 2007 for her debut performance in “Endo” and two years later won the award again for “Sanglaan.”

Other films she has starred in include “Rewind,” “The Hearing,” “The Healing,” “Family Matters,” and the previously mentioned “On the Job 2: The Missing 8.”

Kurbah is a self-taught Indian filmmaker and a leading voice in Khasi-language cinema. His latest movie “Ha Lyngkha Bneng (The Elysian Field)” served as the opening film for this year’s Cinemalaya.

The 21st Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival runs until Oct. 12, 2025.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ordered Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero to explain the P30-million campaign donation he received from a contractor during his 2022 senatorial campaign.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia confirmed on Saturday, October 4, that a show cause order (SCO) was sent to Escudero on Friday.

The senator has been directed to appear before the poll body’s Political Finance and Affairs Department on October 13.

The order follows a similar directive issued earlier against Lawrence Lubiano, president of Centerways Construction and Development Inc., who admitted during a House hearing that he donated P30 million to Escudero’s campaign. Lubiano claimed the funds came from his personal account, not from the company.

Garcia said the Comelec is determining whether the donation violated Section 95 of the Omnibus Election Code, which prohibits contractors or entities with government projects from contributing to political campaigns.

”Yan ang pinaka-puno’t dulo ng magiging desisyon ng Comelec,’ Garcia said in an interview on Dobol B TV, referring to whether the donation was made in a personal or official capacity.

Escudero acknowledged receiving the donation but denied any involvement in flood control projects in his home province of Sorsogon or other areas.

Centerways Construction is among 15 contractors previously identified by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. as having cornered about 20% of the government’s flood control project contracts.

Garcia clarified that Escudero was not being singled out, saying the poll body is also looking into alleged illegal donations received by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte during their 2022 campaign, as well as other names mentioned in the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism report.

Malacañang has said Marcos is open to being investigated over the reported campaign donations.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal previously said that soliciting or receiving donations from individuals or entities with government contracts is an election offense punishable by imprisonment and disqualification from public office.

The ongoing investigations also coincide with congressional inquiries into flood control projects after Marcos revealed that contractors linked to several lawmakers had cornered massive government flood control contracts.

The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) issued an apology to Rosa Rosal and her family after falsely claiming the veteran actress had passed away.

FAMAS had initially posted an obituary card of Rosal, who turns 97 years old later this month, on its social media platforms.

The organization has since deleted the post and released a statement admitting that information fed to them was false.

“Ms. Rosal remains with us, and we deeply regret any confusion or distress this may have caused her family, friends, and admirers,” FAMAS said.

The organization added that it values truth and integrity, and going forward will be more vigilant in verifying information before releasing any statements, reiterating its apologies to Rosal, her loved ones and the public.

Entertainment journalist Mell Navarro confirmed with Rosal’s grandnephew, William Thio, that the retired actress was indeed still alive.

Navarro later shared a video from Thio of Rosal introducing herself and greeting everyone, “Merry Christmas.”

Prior to her retirement, Rosal – born Florence Lansang Danon – debuted during the Golden Age of Philippine Cinema, appearing in classic films like “Anak Dalita,” “Badjao” and “Biyaya ng Lupa.”

Later movies include “Sakada” and “Esperanza: The Movie” having appeared in the original series from 1998.

She also starred in television shows such as “Saan Ka Man Naroroon,” “Ang Iibigin Ay Ikaw,” “Narito Ang Puso Ko,” and “Vietnam Rose,” and hosted “Damayan” and “Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko.”