Category: Philippine Star

Approval of request for foreign travel by local government officials and employees will now be handled by the heads of the regional and provincial offices of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

DILG Administrative Order 47 delegates the approval of travel requests to regional and local field offices of the agency to streamline the approval process.

Based on DILG Circular 2026-017, which took effect on Sept. 7, the DILG secretary has the exclusive authority over all official and personal foreign trips of governors, and mayors of highly urbanized and independent component cities as well as of the mayor of Pateros.

The DILG secretary has the sole authority to approve foreign travel applications of any local elective official if the trip exceeds three months or coincides with a state of emergency or crisis.

For official trips lasting three months or less during non-emergency periods, the heads of DILG regional offices are authorized to grant clearances to elected and appointed officials and employees of provinces, cities and municipalities.

DILG regional directors may also approve requests of appointed local officials and employees when the travel exceeds three months or coincides with emergency situations.

For barangay officials and personnel in component cities and municipalities, the heads of DILG provincial offices can approve travel requests exceeding three months or taking place during a crisis.

Approval of similar requests by barangay officials in highly urbanized and independent component cities will be handled by the heads of DILG city offices.

The DILG said all foreign travel applications will be processed through the Foreign Travel Authority Online System, where applicants can submit required documents.

Jean Claude Saclag’s campaign as an MMA fighter in the 20th Asian Games ended yesterday with a silver-medal finish – just like his run as a wushu athlete in Incheon back in 2014.

His golden dream here ended buried on the mat.

The 31-year-old fighter from Baguio fell to Tajikistan’s Otabek Rajabov in the men’s traditional -65kg MMA final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in a classic striker-vs-grappler duel that ended exactly where Saclag didn’t want it: on the ground.

‘It was like three people were lying on top of me,’ Saclag said in Pilipino of the 23-year-old unbeaten Tajik.

It didn’t start that way. Saclag won the early standing war, uncorking a looping head shot that knocked Rajabov down.

Then came the mistake that cost him the gold.

‘My coach told me to wait for him to stand up, but I saw his eyes, he was still dizzy, so my killer instinct kicked in,’ he said.

He dove in. Rajabov grabbed him. And that was it – the start of a sorry end.

Once on the canvas, Rajabov never let him breathe. Saclag spent most of the fight pinned, smothered, and shut down.

The loss mirrored Incheon 2014, when Saclag, as wushu artist, also settled for silver.

The silver still assured the Philippines twin podium finishes in MMA’s debut at the Asian Games, following Carlos Alvarez’s bronze in the -77kg class a day earlier.

The Ateneo de Manila team pulled away with 474 Molave points after the first two legs of the 2026-27 Play Golf Inter-School Championships at the Arayat and Pinatubo courses of Pradera Verde Golf Club last Sept. 19-20.

Race Manhit, Aenzo Sulaik, Raj Crisostomo, Juanton Cruz, Inigo Gallardo, Ty Go, Xandrei David, Luis Espinosa, Lujo Gomez and Milo Pastor combined for that Ateneo output as they paced De La Salle Zobel with 460 points and British School Manila and La Salle Greenhills which were tied for third with 435.

La Salle Zobel is a team to be reckoned with, featuring Rafa Leonio, Georgina Handog, Aedan Pizzaro, and Joe Cortez. British School Manila is powered by longtime golf team buddies Rodrigo Lim, Chaz Limketkai, Scott Ng and Kyle Ng while La Salle Greenhills bank on grade schoolers Winter Serapio, Monte Andaman, Asher Abad, and Lauro Delen

Next stop will be Caliraya Springs Golf Club on Oct. 3-4.

The 2026-27 Play Golf Interschool Championships is a six-leg golf tournament with eight schools vying for the top six spots that will move forward to the matchplay round.

Fourteen years of waiting have brought Art Arbole to a place he has long dreamed of reaching: the top of a Philippine Golf Tour leaderboard with a championship within sight.

Arbole took a major step toward ending that long title drought Tuesday, producing a personal-best 36-hole total and a bogey-free 67 to seize solo control at the halfway mark of the ICTSI Negros Occidental Classic at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club here.

For the second straight day, the short but tricky layout yielded to Arbole’s steady all-around game. More importantly, the performance gave the journeyman his first outright lead after two rounds – a position that carried both promise and pressure as the tournament heads into the pivotal final 36 holes.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) received on Monday a 61-meter training ship from the West Philippine Sea Foundation for civilian maritime purposes.

WPS Foundation president Jeffrey Ordaniel said the donation aims to support the PCG in maritime safety, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, marine environmental protection as well as maritime capacity-building.

‘This donation is about saving lives, protecting our seas and building the capacity of the men and women of the PCG,’ Ordaniel said.

The foundation said the donation was made for non-confrontational purposes, adding it is ‘not directed against any country.’

The vessel will be deployed in Mindanao, PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan said.

With Mhage Sebastian leading the way with a smashing board one victory over Woman FIDE Master Jemima Paulo, the Philippines overpowered Angola, 3.5-.5, to regain lost footing after the sixth round of the 46th World Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan Monday night.

Also coming through were Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna and WFM Shania Mae Mendoza on boards two and four, respectively, while Woman International Master Ruelle Canino drew with WIM Caxita Esperanca on board three to complete the one-sided win.

That propelled the Filipinas, whose trip in Samarkand is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission, into a 30-nation tie for 28th spot with eight match points each.

The Filipinos were equally impressive in their 3.5-.5 rout of the Yemenis to zoom to joint No. 29.

Jake Bahia and Dan Simeon of Steelmax Inc. emerged as the overall net champions in the Grand Corporate Golf Tournament held September 14-15 at the Mount Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa City.

Bahia and Simeon topped their division to lead the list of proud winners in the two-day corporate golf tournament.

John Darren Weidman and Paul Pearson of Golf Nation PH shared the limelight by winning the overall gross.

Benedict Repaso and Mario Quinto of Unravel Digital finished runners-up, while Jonathan Diaz and Lorenzo Tatlonghari Jr. of Johannas Grille settled for second runner-up honors in the tournament that brought together corporate golfers in a competitive yet spirited showcase of skill, determination and sportsmanship.

The winners received their awards from WCGC PH executives Joey Fornier, COO; Joyce Escandor, chairman and CEO; and Paulo Legaspi, president.

Organizers also expressed their appreciation to the sponsors whose support helped make the tournament possible, including Premiere Sports Management Corp., Bethel, Maxicare, Solaire Online, Holerayt, Rudy Project and Transview Philippines.

The event concluded with organizers congratulating all the participants and champions while looking forward to another gathering on the greens.

The local stock market tumbled for a third consecutive session amid concerns over the country’s economic growth for the third quarter.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped by 0.5 percent or 29.23 points to cap off yesterday’s session at 5,814.56.

The broader All Shares index also finished in the negative territory at 3,253.35, down by 0.41 percent or 13.36 points.

Philstocks Financial Inc. said the local market declined further on renewed worries over the Philippine economy’s growth.

It said this comes as Fitch Solutions’ BMI said that local economic growth for the third quarter could be lower than expected due to public infrastructure delays and tepid household spending.

‘Elevated oil prices, rising local treasury yields and a weak peso also continued to weigh on the market,’ Philstocks Financial said.

RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort said the market downtrend came amid hawkish signals from some US Federal Reserve officials, which could lead to further interest rate hikes.

After the latest 25-basis-point Fed rate hike, Ricafort said possible off-cycle Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rate hike could not be completely ruled out before its rate-setting meeting on Oct. 22 to maintain healthy interest rate differentials and help stabilize the peso versus the dollar.

Ricafort said the market’s decline yesterday also came ahead of the upcoming Mynt initial public offering in October that could sap some market funds.

All local counters were in the red, except for services, which grew by 0.86 percent. Holdings firms posted the biggest drop at 2.17 percent, followed by mining and oil, which declined by one percent.

Total value turnover was at P6.71 billion, a slight dip from the previous day’s P6.87 billion. Decliners edged out advancers, 99 to 90, while 58 issues were unchanged.

An online threat against students of the E.B. Magalona National High School in Negros Occidental prompted local officials to cancel classes yesterday.

Mayor Matthew Louis Malacon said the threat was posted on Facebook.

Aside from the high school, the local government also canceled classes at the E.B. Magalona Elementary School to ensure the safety of students and teachers.

Malacon urged residents to remain calm as authorities are looking into the matter.

Three in every 10 Filipinos expect the Philippine economy to improve in the next 12 months, according to a new survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The poll, conducted from June 20 to 29, found that 33 percent of the respondents expect the country’s economy to improve within a year.

Thirty-two percent said it will stay the same, while 24 percent said it will worsen. The remaining 11 percent did not give an answer.

The latest survey resulted in a ‘net economic optimism’ score of +10, a 24-point improvement from a low -14 (25 percent optimists, 39 percent pessimists) obtained in a similar survey in March.

The ‘net economic optimism’ is the rounded off difference between those who said their economy will improve and those who said that it will worsen in the next 12 months.

The latest survey showed that net economic optimism improved across all areas, although it remained at negative level among those in Metro Manila.

It was highest among those in balance Luzon at +18 (from -13), followed by those in the Visayas at +6 (from -16), Mindanao at +4 (from -8) and Metro Manila at -6 (from -30).

The SWS survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus three percent.