Category: Philippine Star

Two Filipino seafarers were killed after the Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker Sidr was struck by unidentified projectiles while approaching the Strait of Hormuz, the Department of Migrant Workers confirmed.

At an online briefing on Wednesday, September 2, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said 16 Filipino seafarers were aboard the vessel when it was attacked late Aug. 31.

The strike caused a fire that the crew managed to contain, but two of the Filipino seafarers died.

The remains of the two victims have been taken to Oman, while the 14 surviving Filipino crew members are safe and being prepared for repatriation.

Cacdac said the Philippine Embassy and Migrant Workers Office in Oman are coordinating with Omani authorities to bring the crew members and the remains of those killed back to the Philippines.

Saudi national shipping company Bahri, which operates the Sidr, separately confirmed that two Filipino seafarers were killed in a “security incident” involving the tanker at around 11:40 p.m. local time on August 31.

High-risk waterway

The attack comes amid renewed fighting between the United States and Iran around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.

The United States struck Iranian missile launchers on Larak Island over the weekend, prompting Iran to retaliate against U.S. bases in Jordan. Maritime authorities subsequently reported attacks on commercial vessels transiting the strait.

Saudi Arabia has blamed Iran for the attack on the Sidr. Iran has not publicly accepted responsibility.

Cacdac said 31 vessels carrying 421 Filipino seafarers have been attacked in incidents involving the Strait of Hormuz since Feb. 28.

Of the 421 seafarers, 406 were unharmed, 10 were injured but have since recovered, three were killed and one remains missing. A total of 268 have returned to the Philippines.

Around 3,000 Filipino seafarers are still estimated to be aboard vessels in the wider Persian Gulf, according to the DMW.

Right to refuse

The DMW remains on red alert and has reminded shipowners to conduct risk assessments, put adequate security measures in place and avoid exposing Filipino crews to high-risk waters where possible.

Cacdac also reiterated that Filipino seafarers have the right to refuse to sail into designated high-risk or warlike areas.

“We are disallowing deployment to the extent that a seafarer exercises the right to refuse to sail. That right must be respected,” Cacdac said.

The DMW and Bahri said assistance would be extended to the survivors and the families of the two seafarers who died

The Philippines couldn’t hold its ground when conditions got tough yesterday.

A day after sharing second place, the Filipinos slipped to third after the second round of the Nomura Cup at Bayhood No. 9 International Golf Club in Beijing, shooting a combined 142 in the three-to-play, two-to-count format for a two-day total of 288.

That left the Philippines tied with host China and Vietnam, 10 shots behind Hong Kong.

Shin Suzuki led the way for the Philippines with an even-par 72. Jet Hernandez added a 74. Rolando Bregente, whose 69 on Tuesday had put him atop the individual leaderboard, struggled to a 75 and didn’t count toward the team total.

Hong Kong was the story of the day. Ethan Tian fired a 67 and Markus Lam added a 71 for a superb 138, pushing Hong Kong to 278 and a six-shot lead over Japan (284) at the halfway point.

The lucrative illegal drug industry has leveled up operations with innovations using digital technology, as social media entices more followers to the illegal trade.

Las Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos, chairman of the dangerous drugs committee of the House of Representatives, cited studies showing how social media platforms have been used to facilitate illegal drug transactions.

He said Instagram has ’emerged as a significant platform for online drug trafficking,’ with experienced users reportedly able to locate dealers through seemingly ordinary posts, accounts and interactions.

‘Social media has made it possible for drug dealers to operate in plain sight. They can use coded words, images, emojis and seemingly harmless posts to advertise illegal drugs while trying to evade the platforms’ detection systems,’ he observed.

According to Santos, drug dealers have also used emojis as coded advertisements for illegal drugs – for example, using symbols or images associated with particular drugs to avoid automated content filters.

Santos said such tactics demonstrate the difficulty of relying solely on automated moderation to prevent online drug trafficking.

Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) has officially ended its nearly 13-year run on the Philippine Stock Exchange, and while its executives have things they will miss about life as a listed company, there are also things they will gladly leave behind.

‘I will miss seeing our (stock) ticker,’ RRHI chairman Robina Gokongwei-Pe told The STAR.

‘What I am not going to miss is explaining to 23-year-old analysts who ask me what I’m doing, why I’m doing it and how I am doing it,’ the retail tycoon said in jest.

Robina, however, emphasized that they would continue to run RRHI as a listed company.

‘Now that we’ve privatized, whether it’s listed or private, we still run it like it’s listed,’ she said.

RRHI president and CEO Stanley Co, for his part, said being a private company means less time speaking to investor relations.

‘That’s the only difference,’ he told The STAR. ‘But you know what, it’s the same. We’re running it the same way. It’s not because we’re already private that we’ll forget about discipline.’

The company listed its shares at the PSE on Nov. 11, 2013, raising P28.12 billion from the sale of primary and over-allotment shares during its initial public offering.

RRHI shares were delisted from the official registry of the PSE effective Aug. 31.

The company’s public float fell below the PSE’s minimum public ownership requirement following the successful tender offer by JE Holdings Inc. to voluntarily delist RRHI from the exchange.

But Robina noted that business goes on for RRHI, whose portfolio of brands includes Uncle John’s, Shopwise, The Marketplace, Handyman, True Value, Daiso Japan, TGP, Southstar Drug, Rose Pharmacy, Toys ‘R’ Us, as well as Robinsons Supermarket, Easymart and Department Store.

‘We are still keeping our independent directors so that they keep us on our toes,’ she said.

Aside from store expansion, Robina said the company would also continue ensuring that the customer experience remains good.

‘Are we still in acquisition mode? If there’s an opportunity. If there is nothing, then none,’ she said.

As of the end-March, RRHI has 2,782 stores: 805 food stores, 1,187 drugstores, 51 department stores, 234 DIY stores and 505 specialty stores. It also has over 2,100 franchised TGP stores.

Visiting the flood-hit areas of Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales yesterday, President Marcos ordered the speedy rehabilitation of two bridges that collapsed one after the other last weekend in Tarlac.

A Bailey bridge is being rushed to allow light vehicles to use one of the bridges, whose collapse cut off Tarlac City from direct access, forcing motorists to take a detour of up to two hours through Gerona to reach the provincial capital.

While rushing the rehabilitation of the Agana and Aquino bridges, President Marcos must stress to the Department of Public Works and Highways the importance of ensuring the durability of the repair work. The DPWH should also determine if contractors can be held liable for the accidents.

The 25-year-old Aquino Bridge was widened and retrofitted only three years ago, but its central section collapsed in the strong currents of the Tarlac River on Aug. 28.

The older Agana Bridge, which served as the alternative for the Aquino Bridge, sustained similar damage on the night of Aug. 29, causing an SUV to plunge into the river. The bodies of two of the four missing passengers have been found separately downstream in Pangasinan.

Officials including the President have blamed the heavy rainfall for the catastrophic flooding that washed away the two bridges and persisted along parts of the North Luzon Expressway yesterday, slowing traffic.

But the country has been experiencing extreme weather for many years now, and powerful currents in the Tarlac River are not new during the typhoon season. Shouldn’t the DPWH and the contractor of the bridge retrofitting have factored in such risks?

The Sta. Maria-Cabagan Bridge in Isabela province collapsed on Feb. 27 last year, less than a month after it was opened to the public. This bridge was built and retrofitted at a cost of P1.2 billion. The nation still awaits the results of a supposed probe into the reason for the waste of that huge amount of public funds.

All the collapsed bridges are made of concrete and steel and should be sturdy, designed to withstand the weight of trucks and the heavy rainfall and floods that regularly hit the country.

President Marcos must make sure that the repair of the collapsed bridges won’t be another waste of precious public funds, and won’t be seen as opportunities for kickbacks. Holding accountable those behind previous bridge disasters can compel the delivery of quality services.

We have not found the bottom yet. When currencies begin sharply depreciating, it is a challenge predicting where they will end up.

The Philippine peso was last exchanged at $1:P62.40. Analysts forecast it will operate within the P62 to P63 band until the end of the year. This offers us little solace.

Our peso is among the worst performing currencies in the world. This has less to do with external factors than with internal ones. Currencies do not prosper when their home economies are deluged with bad news.

It used to be that conventional economists assured us that depreciation is good. It encourages domestic industries and pushes exports. It limits the propensity to import. It grows the purchasing power of remittances from our migrant workforce.

I have heard no economist repeat that mantra lately. Since we import 99 percent of our oil and half of our natural gas, the prevailing exchange rate hardly influences buying decisions. Imported energy is a fixed expense.

We do not have much by way of exports. There could not be more than a handful of enterprises that will benefit from a collapsing peso.

Increasingly, we have imported more of the food we consume – including staples we used to produce for ourselves. The falling peso will not curb food importation. It will only force up the peso prices of what we eat.

In a word, the full inflationary weight of the peso’s depreciation will fall on every Filipino. Families of migrant workers might get more pesos for their dollars. But that will be quickly cancelled by elevated inflation.

Those who earn their incomes in pesos are defenseless against the onslaught of higher prices for everything. The contraction of their purchasing power is hastened by the local currency’s decline.

The President’s son tried to convince us that the peso is weak because the dollar is strong. That is not quite true. The dollar is itself scrambling. Other economies are dumping US Treasury bonds, forcing yields higher. The decline of petrodollars reduces the attractiveness of holding reserves in dollars. Higher bond yields push up interest rates, making mortgages more expensive.

People are expecting the US economy to crash at some point. Investments in US technology companies created a bubble threatening to burst. With disastrous consequences for the entire global economy.

The peso is simply weak. Portfolio funds have fled even as our stocks are at bargain basement levels. Foreign direct investments have reduced to a trickle, discouraged by corruption scandals, slippery policies and poor economic leadership. Local enterprises are moving capital abroad where returns are better and the outlook brighter.

A depreciating peso does not attract international investments. No one wants to convert hard currency into a fluffy one, losing on the exchange rate risks alone.

Add to this all the other risk premiums they have to consider: corruption, political volatility and natural calamities. We are the most disaster-prone country in the world. That simply compounds all our many other failures.

There is little on the economic radar screen that will mitigate the peso’s fall. Our GDP is hardly growing. Our political leadership labors under negative net approval ratings. Our agriculture has not been a redeeming factor – and lately it has faltered even more in the face of natural calamities.

A few months ago, I forecast in this space that the peso will break past the $1:P60 level. Pro-administration trolls attacked that forecast, claiming the peso will never fall past that level. This is a measure of the wishful thinking animating pro-administration partisans. They are clutching at straws.

Every factor at play conspires against the peso. Our outstanding sovereign debt will soon breach P20 trillion. A third of our national budget goes to servicing this debt. There is hardly anything left to pump-prime our sagging domestic economy.

Our debt-to-GDP ratio is now at about 66 percent. The conventional threshold for fiscal prudence has been breached. Yet we continue to borrow more. At least a third of the proposed 2027 national budget will be financed through additional borrowing.

National indebtedness is a disease. Beyond a certain point, it is not possible to outgrow the debt. The debt begins to consume us and impair our ability to fund economic expansion. It converts to additional taxes that will eradicate what is left of the middle class. It will cut away our ability to fund future growth by building the infra for it. Our ability to aggregate capital is crippled.

We do not have to wait until our economy implodes in a full-blown debt crisis. The large debt overhang impoverishes the people just by being there. It steals our future in plain sight.

But the political elite will not tame indebtedness. Borrowing is the only way to buy legitimacy through endless dole-outs. Our irresponsible elite is addicted to it. Without the subsidy programs, the political order crashes.

As the debt piles up, the interest we pay for borrowed money rises as well. Government takes pride in the fact that most of the debt is owed domestically. The bad news there is that government has crowded out others who might use local capital more efficiently – at least by not losing it to corruption.

The sinking peso is a barometer of how our economy is failing. Currency intervention will not break that fall. Attempting to do so will be calamitous.

Noah Alampay turned heads in his first Pokemon World Championships stint in San Francisco, USA over the weekend.

After topping the Pokemon video game competition (VGC) Day 1 for the seniors’ division with an undefeated 8-0-0 record in Pokemon Champions, Alampay looked primed to make a deep run in the worlds.

However, he suffered back-to-back losses in Day 2. Still, she finished within the top cut, and earned a bye in Round 11.

But the Filipino fell in the quarterfinals against Lucas de Carvalho Barbosa of Brazil to see his campaign end.

As the dust settled, Alampay finished seventh in the tournament.

After his campaign, Alampay said he learned a lot of lessons from his first campaign.

‘Feeling ko lang I got a lot of stress. Sometimes, even if you go undefeated in Day 1, it isn’t always sunshine and rainbows for Day 2. I knew I was going to be in top cut, but even getting the losses, both losses, in the phase 2 of Swiss, that hurt,’ he told Philstar.com.

‘But I think a good thing I do know is that the people that I do play are good, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to fight good people and converse with them. And of course, I’m not also just here for the battles because I get to experience some of the Masters Division players, I get to talk to my fellow Filipinos about their experiences, and we get to share in our losses and our wins,’ he added.

‘So overall, while I do wish I would’ve made top 4, which is one of my initial goals, I am also happy with top 8, given that it’s my second in-person event. And I hope that I’ll be able to have something similar to this coming in the future.’

Alampay ruled the Pokemon Masterball League 2026 in the Philippines to punch his ticket to the Worlds.

He had an impressive run on the first day as other players and spectators saw him as a genuine threat for the crown.

He acknowledged that playing online on in-game ladders is very different in competing in tournaments.

And now he has a taste of international play, he aims to go for more moving forward.

‘I feel like I’ve grown a lot more, especially in how I develop my critical thinking skills, in how I develop compassion in actually playing and training and taking notes. I’ve grown a lot since three years of playing,’ he said.

‘And I think compared from the Philippines Nationals to here… This one, it was a little rushed, but I would say it was a good call that I still stick to what I found comfortable, what I thought was strong, and that my ideology,’ he added.

‘I still think that I have a strong philosophy when it comes to playing, and I believe that’s the most important part of my growth, that I stick to what I believe is true.’

And among the lessons he learned, his biggest takeaway is while everyone is good, everyone is human.

‘So no matter what opponent you may find, you know that they’re not the same as every other opponent you fight using the same team, but also that when they’re human, they can also make mistakes,’ he said.

Alampay cited an example where he faced an opponent in Day 2 that made a lot of ‘right reads’ against his team.

And, in the top eight match, he and his opponent committed timely mistakes, although the victory went to Barbosa.

‘I myself made a mistake and also so did my opponent in the end, but in the end favored him. And both of us talked about it and we both acknowledged that there are a lot of mistakes one can make, but also that it’s okay to make mistakes and even the best make mistakes.’

A 29-year-old woman died while her husband was critically injured after their motorcycle ran over a pothole, spilling them both into the path of a moving truck along the National Highway in Barangay Langtad, City of Naga, Cebu, early yesterday morning, September 1.

Based on the initial investigation by the Naga City Police Station, the accident occurred around 4 A.M. as the motorcycle and a Mitsubishi Fuso truck were both traveling northbound along the highway.

The fatality, identified as ‘Mich’, 29, a resident of Sitio Pit-os, Barangay Calidngan, Carcar City, was riding as a passenger on a Honda Mio motorcycle driven by her husband ‘Aga’, 57.

Police said the motorcycle was traveling along the outer lane while the truck, driven by a 68-year-old driver, was in the inner lane.

Upon reaching Barangay Langtad, the motorcycle reportedly ran over a pothole, causing Aga to lose control of the vehicle.

The motorcycle fell onto the road, throwing Mich off the vehicle and under the moving truck. She was reportedly run over by the truck’s rear right wheel.

Mich and Aga were immediately brought to the Naga Health Infirmary. However, attending physician Dr. Excel Jimms Roche declared Mich dead on arrival due to severe trauma.

Aga was critically injured and remains under medical care.

Meanwhile, the truck driver is currently under police custody pending proper disposition. Police are continuing their investigation into the incident

Despite sweeping its two assignments in the recent fourth FIBA World Cup Asia qualifying window, Gilas is still not out of the woods in chasing a slot to the Big Dance in Doha next year. If the qualifiers ended today, Gilas wouldn’t be among the eight Asia/Oceania teams advancing to the World Cup. There are four more games in two windows left for Gilas to creep into the magic circle. It’s a challenge but the mission is doable, particularly if Kai Sotto and Justin Brownlee or Bennie Boatwright are in harness.

At the moment, Australia is way above the rest with an 8-0 record in Group E then New Zealand is next at 6-2. The Boomers and Tall Blacks are shoo-ins to advance. Tied for third are Iran and Jordan, both at 5-3. The Philippines is fifth at 4-4 and Syria in the cellar at 2-6. In Group F, Lebanon and Japan are deadlocked for first with identical 6-2 marks. China is third at 5-3 then Qatar and South Korea are in fourth at 4-4 each. Saudi Arabia is sixth at 3-5. The top three finishers in each group at the end of six qualifying windows will book tickets to Doha. The team with the better fourth place record in both groups will also advance plus World Cup host Qatar.

Gilas’ next game is against Syria on Nov. 27 then Iran on Nov. 30 in the fifth window. In the last window, Gilas will play Jordan on Feb. 25 and Syria on Feb. 28. Venues will soon be announced for both windows.

Gilas’ win over Iran last Sunday was a clinic on defense. Iran was up by 13 in the first period but Gilas battled back to slowly, seize the initiative. Iran was held to only nine points in the fourth period as Gilas closed it out with a 7-0 punch that featured four different scorers. Iran started the fourth quarter with a 5-0 blast that overturned Gilas’ two-point lead. Then, Gilas broke out with a 19-4 barrage to seal it, 68-56. Mobin Sheikhi, 29, hit Iran’s last five points and finished with 21, the only player in double figures on his side. The 5-8 point guard was a surprise contributor for Iran as before the Gilas game, he’d averaged only 5.6 points. Cone admitted the scouting reports overlooked Sheikhi as Gilas’ defense focused on containing Mohammad Amini, Matin Aghajanpour and Arsalan Kazemi. Amini, a 6-7 forward, was shadowed by Kevin Quiambao. Former Gilas player Mason Amos remembered facing Amini in the 2022 FIBA U18 Asia Championships where the Iran hotshot averaged 19.2 points and 10 rebounds. Cone made sure Amini was limited and finished with seven points on 2-of-15 field goals and three of four free throws.

Nextbank, a Philippine banking technology company, has expanded its partnership with Mount Carmel Rural Bank Inc. (MCRBi) through the adoption of Nextbank’s Mobile Banking Solution.

The partnership will allow MCRBi customers to access digital banking services while the bank continues to modernize its operations.

MCRBi’s digitalization efforts began with its adoption of the Nextbank Core Banking System. The bank is now adding mobile banking services to provide customers with more convenient access to banking transactions.

‘Rural banks are vital to financial inclusion and our role is to equip them with modern, secure and easy-to-adopt digital tools,’ said James To, president and chief commercial officer of Nextbank.

The Mobile Banking Solution is integrated with MCRBi’s existing core banking system, allowing the bank to provide real-time transactions and secure access to its customers.

The partnership is expected to expand digital banking access for families, small businesses and other customers served by MCRBi in the

Calabarzon region.

Founded in 1966 through the consolidation of two Batangas-based rural banks, MCRBi has been serving customers in the province for nearly 60 years.

‘Our mission is to help financial institutions build future-ready digital ecosystems that grow with their customers’ needs,’ To said.

Nextbank provides cloud-based banking technology solutions to rural banks, thrift banks, commercial banks, cooperatives and other financial institutions. Its offerings include core banking, mobile banking, electronic know-your-customer, digital payments and fraud management systems.