Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

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.

A joint search and rescue team recovered Sunday the body of one of two passengers who went missing after a jeepney was swept away by strong river currents in Rosario, Batangas, on Saturday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

The PCG Southern Tagalog District said the body was spotted by an aerial drone at 8:57 a.m. along the river channel, about 3 kilometers downstream from the spillway crossing in Barangay Colongan where the incident occurred.

Rescuers continued searching for the other missing passenger, a man last seen wearing a black printed shirt and royal blue shorts.

The incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. Saturday when the passenger jeepney, carrying 14 people, attempted to cross a spillway over the Paninsingin River. Strong currents swept the vehicle off the crossing and completely submerged it.

Residents rescued 12 passengers, while the other two were initially reported missing. News reports identified them as a couple.

Two men sustained shoulder injuries after being hacked by an intoxicated neighbor in Purok 5, Barangay Mahayahay, late Saturday night.

According to the Don Carlos Municipal Police Station (MPS), led by Maj. Al-Nico Haman, the incident occurred at around 11:45 p.m. while the victims were having a drinking session with family members outside their residence.

Initial investigations revealed that a male suspect arrived under the influence of liquor.

Although the victims invited him to eat, the suspect declined and left, but later returned armed with a bolo.

He suddenly attacked both men, inflicting wounds on their upper and lower shoulders.

Responding police personnel rushed to the scene after receiving the report but learned that the victims had already been transported to the Bukidnon Provincial Hospital (BPH) in Maramag for treatment.

Duty investigators confirmed that both victims were in stable condition and required sutures for their wounds.

Authorities urged the public to remain vigilant, immediately report suspicious behavior, and cooperate with law enforcement to maintain peace and safety in the province.

An Asian Olympic chief said Sunday that more than 50 world records at the Games in Japan proved the event was a success, despite numerous complaints from disgruntled teams.

The Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya saw a catalogue of mishaps, from athletes bussed to the wrong venues to the North Korean national anthem played for the South Korean hockey team.

There were not enough beds for the over 17,000 athletes and officials, a bigger number than the Olympics.

Countries also complained of being stranded for up to six hours at the airport on arrival.

The Games produced some elite performances, although sometimes in front of rows of empty seats.

World records were broken in sports including swimming, shooting and weightlifting.

Olympic Council of Asia director general Husain Al-Musallam said ‘numbers are facts’ as he launched an impassioned defense of the Games ahead of the closing ceremony.

‘This achievement does not come without the best environment that the organizing committee created for the athletes,’ he said.

‘The athletes cannot perform if they don’t sleep good, the athletes cannot perform if they don’t have good transportation.

‘We are here to present to you the evidence,’ he added.

To save money, there was no athletes’ village at the Games, organizers instead putting competitors in hotels, temporary wooden huts and on a cruise ship.

Some teams complained about the quality of the accommodation, including that the beds were too short in the huts.

Al-Musallam said the accommodation was ‘very well received by the athletes’ and provided a sustainable model for future Games.

Basilan State College has reached a historic milestone, having been elevated to university status.

It was formally declared the Basilan State University (BasSU) during a ceremony held at the institution’s gymnasium in Barangay Sumagdang, Isabela City, Basilan, on Friday.

Dr. Shirley Agrupis, Commission on Higher Education (Ched) chairperson, announced the conversion during the ceremony, which was attended by university officials, local leaders, and students.

The transition was confirmed through Ched Commission en Banc (CEB) Resolution No. 553-2026, dated Aug. 17, which affirmed that the institution had fully complied with all statutory requirements for university status under Republic Act No. 11554.

In a statement posted on its social media account, BasSU said the conferment reflects years of sustained institutional strengthening across academic programs, governance structures, quality assurance systems, research output, and physical capacity.

With its elevated status, BasSU assumes a broader educational mandate aimed at enhancing academic excellence, innovation, knowledge creation, and public service across the island province.

The legislative foundation for the university’s creation was set in motion through House Bill No. 1581, principally authored by now Basilan Gov. Mujiv Hataman during his tenure as representative of the province’s lone district.

The measure subsequently gained traction in the Senate through Senate Bill No. 1936, authored by then-Senator and current Education Secretary Sonny Angara. Sen. Joel Villanueva sponsored a similar measure, leading to the enactment of RA 11554, which laid the legal groundwork for the college’s transformation.

BasSU acknowledged the provincial leaders who also played a critical role in the compliance process, including Basilan Vice Gov. Jim Hataman Salliman and Lone District Rep. Yusop Alano.

As BasSU begins its new operational chapter, the university administration expressed appreciation to its academic community, government agencies, and local leaders whose long-term contributions helped the province establish its first state university.