Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Face-to-face classes are suspended in several areas on Monday, October 5, for the celebration of National Teachers’ Day.

Republic Act No. 10743 declares every fifth day of October each year as National Teachers’ Day in recognition of the role of educators in shaping the nation.

In-person classes are suspended in the following:

Luzon

Province of Abra: all levels, public and private schools

San Carlos City, Pangasinan: all levels, public and private schools

Burgos, La Union: all levels

Sta. Rita, Pampanga: all levels, public and private schools

Victoria, Tarlac: all levels, public and private schools

Moncada, Tarlac: all levels, public and private schools

Province of Laguna: for public schools

Legazpi, Albay: public schools; shift to alternative learning modes

Polangui, Albay: all levels, public and private schools

Tabaco, Albay: all levels, public and private schools

Malino, Albay: public schools; shift to modular learning modes

Visayas

Negros Oriental: all levels, public and private schools

New Washington, Aklan: all levels, public and private schools

Palapag, Northern Samar: all levels, public and private schools

Ibajay, Aklan: all levels, public and private schools

San Joaquin, Iloilo: all levels, public and private schools

Dulag, Leyte: all levels, public and private schools

Mindanao

Parang, Maguindanao del Norte: all levels, public and private schools

Lagonglong, Misamis Oriental: all levels, public and private schools

Salay, Misamis Oriental: all levels, public and private schools

Gitagum, Misamis Oriental: all levels, public and private schools

Three children, including an eight-year-old boy, and an 85-year-old woman died, while two other minors were wounded when an unidentified explosive device went off in Sitio Raniag, Barangay Sinamar, Roxas, Isabela, at around 9 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4, police said.

The two other minors, all residents of the village, were brought to the Manuel A. Roxas District Hospital (MARDH) for treatment.

Witnesses said they heard a loud explosion and later saw the victims sprawled on the ground.

Police have yet to determine the type of explosive device involved. The Roxas-Mallig Plains Satellite Forensic Office and the Provincial EOD and Canine Unit were processing the blast site.

Witnesses said the boys had been playing with a metallic device, which they believed was an explosive, shortly before the blast.

The elderly woman, who was on her way to church, reportedly approached the children and warned them about playing with the device. She was also struck by shrapnel when it exploded.

The 76ers’ public address announcer ended a brief retirement over the summer in large part to get behind the mic and do what he did for the first time ahead of the team’s annual scrimmage.

Matt Cord introduced LeBron James in the Sixers’ starting lineup.

‘At 6-9, from St. Vincent-St. Mary’s, No. 23, LeBron James! James!’

file this under things we love to see: pic.twitter.com/jIvCXILCvl

Close to 10,000 fans who plunked down $10 a ticket on Saturday to essentially witness a glorified practice at the Sixers’ home arena went wild for James’ debut.

No, James didn’t wear No. 23. He historically wore No. 6 over his career in practice gear but with that number retired in Philadelphia because of Julius Erving, James went with No. 9.

No, the dunks and 3s and assists didn’t count in any official capacity. And no, James wasn’t even introduced last. That honor remained reserved for Joel Embiid.

What the new 41-year-old on the block did do was give – along with Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe – a sneak preview that maybe, just maybe, the long underperforming Sixers might finally rise to the moment this season and meet their championship expectations.

‘It was a great first step in a direction we’re trying to go,’ James said. ‘It was great to hear some cheers from our fans.’

Sixers fans who crammed aisles and stairways trying to catch a first glimpse or a snapshot of James were shooed back to their seats. Vendors hawked James merchandise outside the arena and told fans they could own the first pieces of his merchandise. Sixers fans that inched near the court screamed and outright begged James to stop and turn around and pose for pictures. They also crammed into team stores buying No. 23 jerseys.

The Sixers started the scrimmage early with what they hope is a familiar sight: Maxey in transition hit James for an alley-oop dunk. James hung and swung on the rim for a few seconds.

James made a nifty behind-the-back pass to Edgecombe (who missed a corner 3) and even squared up and buried a long 3 from about Caitlin Clark range.

James did it all – he even bounced Maxey’s baby daughter, Marvel, on his knee for a moment on the bench.

No word yet on James’ hourly babysitting rate.

Not a bad first week in Philadelphia for the NBA’s career scoring leader.

‘Everybody’s been super welcoming,’ James said. ‘I’ve been able to implement some things with my voice and just my command of how I play the game and my experience playing the game. I’m still getting more and more comfortable off the floor, with travel and without my family and things of that nature. That’s going to be a little bit of a challenge, but everything’s been good so far. Great first week.’

The Sixers traditionally hold the scrimmage in Delaware on the home court of their G League team. The Sixers donated 5,000 tickets to local community groups and Sixers Youth Foundation grantee partners and more than $80,000 was raised for the Sixers Youth Foundation.

The $10 tickets were a deal. They are hovering around $1,000 a ticket for the 100 level on the secondary market for the Sixers’ Oct. 22 home opener against Cleveland.

James was expected to play Monday in the first of four preseason games and mark the start of his record 24th NBA season.

‘It’d be good to get out there with some of our guys to just get a rhythm,’ James said. ‘At the same time, also not overdo it. We’re putting a lot into our practices right now. We’re fine-tuning what we want to do once the game comes. I think there will be opportunities once we get out there in the preseason.’

Philadelphia opens the season Oct. 20 in New York against the NBA champion Knicks.

James and the rest of the Sixers were encouraged that the oft-injured Embiid has been a full participant in camp and seems to be in leaner, lighter shape. Embiid pulled off a driving left-handed dunk in the scrimmage and later joked; it was ‘probably the last dunk of my career.’

Manila Rep. Joel Chua said on Sunday that the prosecution panel would no longer pursue the bribery charge against Vice President Sara Duterte, one of the articles of impeachment filed against her.

In an interview with DZMM Teleradyo, Chua, one of the House prosecutors, was asked to confirm whether the bribery case would no longer be discussed during the impeachment trial.

‘Yes, it’s confirmed,’ he said.

Asked whether the decision to drop the alleged bribery case was due to its weakness, Chua answered in the negative.

‘We believe that the evidence presented is already sufficient,’ he said.

Last September, House prosecutors said they were weighing whether to pursue Article III of the impeachment complaint, which accuses Duterte of bribing Department of Education officials to induce them to violate or circumvent procurement and other related laws during her tenure as education secretary.

On Sunday, prosecution panel spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said prosecutors were targeting mid-October to finish presenting all evidence against Duterte, as the Senate is expected to prioritize deliberations on the 2027 national budget.

In a Viber message to the INQUIRER on Sunday, Chua said they ‘will make a manifestation tomorrow’ regarding the dropping of the bribery charge.

Ilocos Sur posted 4.2 percent economic growth in 2025, with its gross domestic product (GDP) reaching P107.47 billion, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Ilocos Region.

The figure, based on the latest Provincial Product Accounts (PPA), was presented during a forum on Sept. 29.

Accommodation and food service activities recorded the fastest growth at 16.7 percent, followed by public administration and defense at 15.4 percent, and human health and social work activities at 8.1 percent.

Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Architect Estrelita Rugnao attributed the strong performance of accommodation and food services to increasing tourist arrivals and the growth of local enterprises.

Meanwhile, mining and quarrying and financial and insurance activities were the only sectors that contracted, declining by 0.4 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

The 2025 growth was slower than the 5.5 percent recorded in 2024, when the provincial economy reached P103.16 billion.

PSA Chief Statistical Specialist Jeanette Marzan said the economy nevertheless remained stable.

Marzan noted that agriculture remains vital to the province but continues to face challenges from high fuel costs and natural disasters. She urged local governments to strengthen support for farmers and fisherfolk.

She also cautioned that GDP growth alone does not measure people’s welfare, saying employment, poverty and other indicators must also be considered.

Rugnao, meanwhile, stressed that economic growth should go hand in hand with environmental protection, climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and proper land use.

The PSA said the PPA is intended to help local governments assess economic performance and guide development planning.

The Palace on Sunday said dropping the bribery charge in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial could deprive Filipinos of the chance to know the ‘whole truth.’

‘If they withdraw the bribery allegation against the vice president, wouldn’t that shortchange or disadvantage Filipinos who want to know the whole truth about this?’ Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a message to reporters.

While Castro respects the prosecution panel’s decision, she questioned what prompted it to give up the charge.

‘It is up to the prosecution to decide. If they think that is the right strategy in presenting their witnesses,’ Castro said.

‘But they included it in the Articles of Impeachment, which means they have sufficient evidence to discuss this bribery issue in the impeachment court,’ she added.

Castro’s comment was in response to a statement by Manila Rep. Joel Chua, one of the members of the House of Representatives prosecution team, confirming that they would no longer pursue the bribery charge against Duterte in her ongoing impeachment trial.

Chua said the decision to abandon the article of impeachment was not due to the case’s weakness.

‘We believe that the evidence presented is already sufficient,’ he said.

Last September, House prosecutors said they were weighing whether to pursue Article III of the impeachment complaint, which accuses Duterte of bribing Department of Education officials to induce them to violate or circumvent procurement and other related laws during her tenure as education secretary.

World No.1 Jannik Sinner on Saturday again delayed his return to the courts, announcing his withdrawal from next week’s Shanghai Masters.

The 25-year-old, who has won six titles in 2026 with an impressive record of 44 wins against three losses, has not played since his Wimbledon title in July due to a right knee injury.

‘Unfortunately, I won’t be able to play at the Shanghai Masters this year as I had hoped,’ the Italian wrote on Instagram ahead of the tournament from October 7-18.

Sinner, who withdrew in late September from the Beijing tournament where he was the defending champion, offered no further explanation.

According to the Italian press, the five-time Grand Slam winner consulted a knee specialist in the French city of Lyon on Friday.

His prolonged absence increases the chances of his closest rival Alexander Zverev rising to the top of the ATP rankings for the first time before the season ends.

Currently, 1,370 points separate the world’s top two players.

Sinner has significantly more points to defend than the German between now and the end of the season, since in 2025 he won the ATP 500 events in Beijing and Vienna, the Paris Masters 1000 and the ATP Finals in Turin, which award 1,500 points to the winner.

Zverev, 29, was far less effective at the end of last season and will therefore be able to add more points than Sinner in the year’s final tournaments.

As well as winning the first two Grand Slam titles of his career in 2026, at French Open and the US Open, Zverev reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and the final at Wimbledon.

Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro is expected to deliver the prosecution team’s manifestation formally dropping the bribery charge in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, Manila Rep. Joel Chua said on Sunday.

Chua said the prosecution panel ‘will make a manifestation tomorrow’ concerning the decision to no longer pursue the bribery charge, which hinged on the testimony of former Department of Education (DepEd) officials who said they received cash envelopes through Duterte’s subordinate.

‘It will be manifested orally by Chair Jinky,’ he said, referring to Luistro by her nickname.

The decision to abandon the bribery charge against Duterte comes as her trial enters its 14th week.

In September, prosecutors said they were studying whether to pursue the allegation that the vice president bribed officials to persuade DepEd officials to bypass procurement rules in her stint as education secretary.

Former DepEd procurement chief Gloria Jumamil-Mercado testified during a 2024 congressional inquiry that she received monthly envelopes containing P50,000 for nine months.

Former bidding committee chairman Resty Osias similarly recalled receiving packets with P12,000 to P15,000 between April to Sept. 2023.

‘These are people who actually received money. They [would have] testified that it came from the person being charged in this particular case,’ Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores, who heads the team assigned to present the bribery count, said. ‘What was the reason they were given cash?’

He said the House of Representatives’ probe showed that ‘they were given by people who are directly under the control and supervision of the vice president, and that they were informed it came from the vice president.’

Talks concerning the bribery count had been underway since September, after prosecutors finished presenting a claim that Duterte allegedly misused P612.5 million in confidential funds, according to a person familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

And the decision was settled last week amid witness issues and after Duterte’s lawyers declined to admit her bank records into evidence, the person said, who added that Luistro was initially set to submit the formal manifestation Friday last week before proceedings were abruptly cancelled.

‘All cards on the table’

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, a prosecution spokesman, said the panel ‘laid all the cards on the table’ in weighing whether to continue with the bribery claim or drop the charge entirely.

Though the calculus shifted after prosecutors confronted a vast volume of financial documents tied to the unexplained wealth charge, which they have been presenting in court since last month, he said.

‘There are some prosecutors who are not, at that point in time during the initial discussion, into dropping the allegation,’ said Alonto Adiong. ‘They said: let’s see what will be the flow of Article II.’

Former lawmaker Robert Ace Barbers, now an adviser to the prosecution panel, said he was among those who initially opposed dropping the bribery count after a public opinion poll showed that nearly half of all Filipinos viewed it as the most serious charge against Duterte.

Koronadal was officially converted from a municipality into a component city of South Cotabato through a plebiscite that ratified Republic Act No. 8803, signed by then President Joseph Estrada on Aug. 16, 2000. The area was formerly called ‘Marbel,’ by the natives, which comes from the B’laan word meaning ‘murky waters.’ Its present name, Koronadal, was derived from two B’laan words: ‘koron’ or ‘kolon,’ which meant cogon grass, and ‘nadal’ or ‘datal,’ meaning plain. The city was designated as the regional center and seat of the region of Soccsksargen by virtue of Executive Order No. 304, signed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on March 30, 2004. Today, Koronadal is a first-class city with a population of 201,844, as of the 2024 Census.

Oct. 8, 2025

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines unveiled a historical marker at Mayoyao, Ifugao, titled ‘Alimit: Landas ng Pagkabansang Pilipino, 1899-1900,’ as part of a series of marker unveilings in the province in observance of the 125th anniversary of Philippine Independence and Nationhood. The marker commemorates the stay of Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the first Philippine Republic, and his troops in this community, now part of Mayoyao, Ifugao, while defending Philippine independence and nationhood from Dec. 31, 1899, to Jan. 1, 1900.

The Zamboanga Hermosa Festival, locally known as Fiesta Pilar, is an annual celebration in the city of Zamboanga. It pays tribute to the city patroness, Our Lady of the Pillar, or ‘Nuestra Señora de la Virgen del Pilar,’ whose image is enshrined at the historic and venerated Fort Pilar. While the feast day falls on Oct. 12, the festival spans more than a month, featuring city-led activities, private events, sports competitions and religious observances. These include beauty pageants, fashion shows, a vinta display, an arts exhibit, a pet parade, fun run, marathon, novenas and more.

(Oct. 1 – Oct. 31)

The Inug-og Festival in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental, is an ethnic festival that celebrates the culture of the Suban-on. One of the most awaited highlights of this year’s monthlong festival is the street dancing and ritual competition on Oct. 14. The event features performers presenting their tribal dance as a tribute to the city’s patroness, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, whose feast day is celebrated on Oct. 16. Other major events include a fluvial procession, parade, a musical fireworks display, food bazaar, an agro-trade fair and ‘diskwento’ caravan, a job fair, and various competitions, among other activities.

After its sold-out concert on Friday night, Oct. 2, BenandBen is still processing how it was able to mount such a humongous crowd at one of the country’s biggest concert stages, much more, to last almost a decade in this fickle entertainment industry.

The indie folk-pop band celebrated nine years of music, friendship, and growth with ‘Saranggola: The Concert,’ taking Liwanag fans through the band’s three-album discography while marking the end of its nine-piece era at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The concert was also a surprise for fans who came without a prior setlist released. Rather than focusing solely on songs from its recent ‘Nine’ anthology album, the band revisited music from The Traveller Across Dimensions, Pebble House, and Limasawa Street, allowing the audience to look back on the different chapters of BenandBen’s career alongside the members themselves.

The band also performed reimagined versions of classic hits ‘Lifetime’, ‘Autumn,’ and ‘Leaves’ alongside new releases from 2026, bringing both familiar favorites and newer material into the celebration.

The nine-piece lineup – Paolo and Miguel Benjamin Guico, Poch Barretto, Jam Villanueva, Agnes Reoma, Patricia Lasaten, Toni Muñoz, Andrew de Pano, and Keifer Cabugao – opened the show with ‘Ride Home,’ ‘Paninindigan Kita,’ and ‘Sunrise,’ immediately setting a celebratory tone inside the Big Dome.

Milestones

The show was divided into segments dedicated to each of the band’s three albums. Between performances, the members shared stories from their years together, reflecting on career milestones, personal experiences, and how their relationship had grown beyond simply being bandmates.

BenandBen’s history as friends and chosen family became one of the concert’s central themes. Instead of treating its nine-year journey as a straightforward retrospective, ‘Saranggola’ gave each member room to revisit the moments that shaped them and the music they created together.

Departure

The concert, however, carried a bittersweet undertone. Last year, drummer Villanueva announced in a video posted on BenandBen’s social media accounts that 2026 would be her final year with the group. Her departure was also linked to an arm injury that has affected her ability to continue performing as a drummer.

In one segment, the band gave the audience the chance to request songs, selecting three from the suggestions: the perennial ber-month favorite ‘Bibingka,’ along with ‘Dahilan’ and ‘Courage.’

The members later introduced themselves one by one as a nine-piece band for the last time, before launching into ‘Araw-Araw.’ More than an introduction, the moment marked the final time fans would see the nine-piece lineup take the stage together.

Towards the end, Villanueva took the stage for a heartfelt message to her bandmates and the fans who had been part of her journey with BenandBen. She shared that she would not be the person she is today if it were not for her bandmates, thanking them for the years they had spent growing and making music together. The emotion in her words was felt across the stage as her fellow band members shed tears.

BenandBen then closed the concert with ‘Maybe the Night’ and ‘Saranggola.’ During the latter, Villanueva took to the drums for one final performance with her bandmates. After the song, the nine-piece lineup took its final bow together, marking the end of an era for the band.