Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar-winning actress who starred in classic Hollywood films including ‘On the Waterfront’ and ‘North by Northwest,’ died Tuesday, Oct. 6, her publicist said. She was 102 years old.

Over her seven-decade career the ever-elegant Saint caught the eyes of influential filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock and Elia Kazan, building a legendary resume in film as well as television, which also earned her an Emmy.

Her representative Jeff Sanderson said Saint died of natural causes at home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and loved ones.

Saint’s performance in ‘On the Waterfront’ was her film debut, and earned her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Kazan’s crime drama with music composed by Leonard Bernstein is widely considered among the greatest films of all time, featuring an all-star cast including Marlon Brando, who also scored an Oscar for his role.

The 1954 film catapulted Saint, who played the ethereal foil to Brando’s seething macho boxer, to Hollywood fame.

She went on to star opposite Cary Grant in Hitchcock’s masterpiece ‘North by Northwest.’

Saint was considered a surprise choice to play a Hitchcock blonde, the double agent femme fatale who beguiles Grant.

But she pulled it off, even though she never worked again with the Englishman, who was notorious for putting his leading ladies through hell and for controlling his actors to the last detail.

‘He worked with me from the outside in,’ she later said.

‘My hair, my makeup, my shoes, my jewelery, my purse, my gloves, everything. And just from creating that exterior for me, he gave me the sense of a spy lady.’

Timeless performance

Saint’s storied career also included work with director Otto Preminger, when she played opposite Paul Newman in ‘Exodus’ in 1960.

Two years later she was Warren Beatty’s love interest in John Frankenheimer’s ‘All Fall Down.’

With Hollywood at her feet, Saint ‘could have been a contender’ for superstardom -to echo the most famous line from ‘On the Waterfront’-but instead she chose to step back to raise her family with director Jeffrey Hayden.

Indeed her eldest son, Darrell, was born just two days after she won her Oscar.

The brilliance of Saint’s incarnation of Edie, whose brother is lured to his death by the Brando character, has come to be seen by critics as the stand-out performance of a film once revered for its male roles.

The restrained Saint could not have been more different to the intense method mumbling of Brando.

‘He was adorable-really adorable, but a little frightening,’ she later said of her enigmatic co-star.

‘I felt that he could see right through me,’ she told Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in 2013.

More than half a century later, Saint made a big screen comeback as Superman’s adoptive mother in the 2006 blockbuster ‘Superman Returns,’ when she was in her early 80s.

And she was still busy into her mid-90s, playing a small part in the supernatural fantasy ‘Winter’s Tale’ alongside Colin Farrell and Russell Crowe, and as a mother superior in the nun drama ‘Mariette in Ecstasy,’ which came out in 2019.

But having first developed her acting chops in live television dramas, TV remained her preferred medium. She won an Emmy in 1990 for her role as a rich widow in the acclaimed miniseries ‘People Like Us.’

65-year marriage

Saint was born on July 4, 1924 in Newark, New Jersey, to Quaker parents whom she credited with developing her sense of discipline.

She entered Bowling Green State University with plans to become a teacher but left with a degree in dramatic arts after discovering a passion for theater.

Saint trained in New York at the Herbert Berghof Studio and then the Actors Studio-the home of method acting-which was co-founded by Kazan.

A rarity among Hollywood couples, she and Hayden’s marriage lasted for 65 years until his death in 2016.

With two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Saint said her longevity had brought extra depth to her work.

‘The longer you live, the smarter you get, because you’ve been around, you’ve seen things.

‘You’ve gone through different emotional experiences in your own life, and hopefully, you understand things better,’ she told TCM.

The Commission on Audit (COA) has found that over P9.22 billion worth of properties under the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) remain uninsured, which constitutes a violation of the Property Insurance Law and exposes the government to financial risks.

In its 2025 audit report, COA said it reviewed the compliance of the MMDA with Republic Act No. 656, or the Property Insurance Law, and found that only P4.42 billion out of P13.64 billion worth of insurable properties were covered with insurance as of last year.

This left P9.22 billion, or 67.60 percent, worth of assets without insurance coverage.

According to the report, the majority of the uninsured properties were pumping stations and floodgates, with over P8.47 billion worth of assets found uninsured, followed by construction and other heavy equipment worth P220 million, and ferry office stations worth P212 million.

Of the uninsured properties, COA noted that P8.86 billion have already been flagged in a previous report but continue to remain without insurance coverage for 2025.

COA said the lack of insurance coverage constitutes non-compliance with Sections 2, 5, and 11 of the Property Insurance Law and exposes the government to risk of loss without right of indemnification.

‘Pumping stations and floodgates play a vital role in managing water levels and preventing widespread flooding in Metro Manila, while ferry stations support mobility and decongestion programs,’ it said.

‘Damage or loss of these assets due to fire, typhoons, flooding, earthquakes, or other hazards may require substantial government resources for repair or replacement in the absence of insurance protection,’ added COA.

In the report, the MMDA explained that it was unable to secure insurance coverage for certain infrastructure assets because of the lack of land titles or ownership documents that are required by insurers, given that these properties are located on easements, waterways, or areas subject to jurisdictional limitations

The MMDA also pointed to budget constraints due to relatively high insurance premium costs as one of the reasons for the lack of insurance.

‘The [Government Service Insurance System or GSIS] does not insure pumping stations if we do not own the land. The problem with that is it will take some time before we could get a title, and in fact, some of these cannot have titles because they are easements,’ MMDA Chair Don Artes said in a briefing on Tuesday.

However, he also stressed that the majority of the MMDA’s pumping stations are already insured, and only a ‘small portion’ remain uninsured.

Artes said the agency is currently ‘exploring other options’ to address the issue, such as getting insurance from a private company.

As part of its recommendations, COA urged the MMDA to coordinate with the GSIS and other concerned agencies in determining other acceptable documents or alternative arrangements in providing insurance coverage for properties without land titles.

Police operations against cigarette smuggling in Palawan and Puerto Princesa City led to the arrest of 47 people and the confiscation of cigarette products and other items worth an estimated P37.16 million from January to September this year, police said.

The Mimaropa police conducted 31 operations from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, according to accomplishment reports from the Palawan Police Provincial Office (PPO) and the Puerto Princesa City Police Office (PPCPO).

The Palawan PPO conducted 15 operations, resulting in 18 arrests and the confiscation of items valued at P6.53 million.

The PPCPO, meanwhile, recorded 16 operations, leading to the arrest of 29 people and the seizure of items estimated at P30.62 million.

The largest single seizure was made by the PPCPO on June 9, when police confiscated 188 master cases of cigarettes valued at about P28.68 million.

The seized cigarette products were turned over to the Bureau of Customs and placed under its custody for appropriate disposition in connection with alleged violations of Republic Act No. 10863, or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

Brig. Gen. Christopher R. Dela Cruz, Mimaropa police director, called for stronger intelligence gathering and interagency coordination to prevent smuggled cigarettes from entering the region’s markets.

‘We have to know where these cigarettes are coming from, who is bringing them in, and where they are being distributed,’ Dela Cruz said.

Dela Cruz said suppressing cigarette smuggling would also help legitimate businesses that comply with government regulations.

Suspected drug lord Samuel ‘Sammy’ Uy was among the payees of manager’s checks presented during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Wednesday.

The House prosecution panel bared this during the 35th day of the trial, when it presented manager’s checks supposedly sourced from a Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) account jointly held by the vice president and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

A manager’s check refers to a check purchased by an account holder from a bank. Once purchased, the bank itself assumes the obligation to pay the amount stated on the check, making it as good as cash.

In presenting these checks, the prosecution attempted to show a pattern of concealment involving around P96 million in funds, particularly by using the method to move large sums of money out of their account to prevent them from appearing in their year-end balance.

Among the manager’s checks presented was Check No. 20536 dated May 30, 2016, amounting to P16,852,782.94. The payee for this specific check was Uy.

‘Sir, to complete the P96 million, who was the payee of this P16 million?’ private prosecutor James Bryan Ibrahim Alih asked BPI Central Metro Manila Branches division head Marwin Galvez, who testified for the bank.

‘Based on the records we submitted, Your Honor, the payee of the manager’s check dated May 30, 2016, is Samuel C. Uy,’ Galvez said.

Uy is a businessman in Davao and was a major campaign donor of former President Duterte.

Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV alleged that the Dutertes received payouts from Uy, whom he accused of being an alleged drug lord.

Trillanes also said that the vice president, her father, her brothers Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte and Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, her father’s common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña, and their daughter Veronica ‘Kitty’ Duterte received P181.6 million in checks from Uy from 2011 to 2013.

Vice President Sara Duterte told journalists here on Tuesday that her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, had advised her to ‘come home’ and leave national politics to her brother, Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte, the city’s incumbent mayor.

Duterte made this revelation at a press conference where she also denied accusations that she received money stuffed in suitcases from dismissed policeman Rodulfo Gracioso Jr.

‘I think I’ve said this publicly before, maybe in an interview or a speech, that my mother wanted me to come home to Davao and just let Baste run in the national elections,’ she said. ‘That’s all that we’ve discussed in the family. Well, not really discussed: my mother said, ‘You come home here in Davao and leave national (politics) to Baste.”

Not inclined to follow

The vice president, who in February announced her intention to run for president in 2028, was asked for comment regarding suggestions that her younger brother take the cudgels for her as her ongoing impeachment trial raises questions over her viability as a Palace contender.

A conviction in the impeachment trial would bar her from seeking public office.

But the vice president also said she was not inclined to follow her mother’s wishes, and that she wouldn’t be coming home to Davao anytime soon due to her work as vice president.

Duterte said she and Baste had not yet discussed the possibility of him running for president.

The incumbent Davao City mayor currently leads the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino, the political party that carried his father’s presidential bid in 2016.

Baste made headlines last week when he appeared as a ‘hostile witness’ in his sister’s trial, where he was questioned by the prosecution regarding Davao City Hall’s P34-million contracts with GenCorp., a food and catering company being linked to the vice president.

Members of the prosecution panel have agreed with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis Escudero that it is hard to explain Vice President Sara Duterte’s financial transactions, even if her net worth across the years were lumped as one.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, counsel for the prosecution Benjamin Tolosa Jr., public prosecutor Manila Rep. Joel Chua, and prosecution spokesperson Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong were all asked about the questions raised by Escudero and the answers given by AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura regarding the P4.4 million transactions made by Duterte and her relatives.

At one point during Tuesday’s hearing, Escudero said he considered the absurd possibility that Duterte’s net worth, as stated in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) from 2007, were totaled just to make sense of the P4.4 billion transactions, even if this should not be the case. Buenaventura in response said he also cannot explain how the transactions happened.

‘So sabi nga niya (Escudero), if you’ll consider it, pagsasamahin mo ‘yong mga net worth na dineklara ng bise presidente from 2007 to 2025, that’s P840 million. And from 2022 to 2025, P336 million. But as explained by him, ‘di mo naman ‘yan pagsasamahin dahil hindi naman nagba-back to zero ‘yong net worth mo per year,’ Tolosa told reporters.

(So he said that (Escudero), if you’ll consider it, combining the net worth declared by the vice president from 2007 to 2025, that’s P840 million. And from 2022 to 2025, P336 million. But as explained by him, you do not combine your net worth over the years because this figure does not reset to zero every year end.)

‘P840 million, P336 (million), hindi pa rin maabot ‘yong total transactions worth P4.4 billion do’n pa lang sa assets nilang mag-asawa. ‘Pag sinama mo pa ‘yong do’n sa corporations nila na more than P5 billion. So ang naging sagot ng AMLC executive director, hindi ko po maipaliwanag ‘yon. Well, tulad ng sabi mo, in English, yaman to na we cannot explain,’ he added.

(P840 million, P336 (million), it would not reach the total transactions worth P4.4 billion, just based on the assets of the couple. If you include the assets from corporations then that’s more than P5 billion. So the AMLC executive director’s answer was that he cannot explain it. And as you said, in English, that’s wealth that you cannot explain.)

Alonto Adiong also shared the same sentiments, saying that at this point, only Duterte can explain why the figures are such.

‘So in a very clear, simple answer, even the Presiding Officer and AMLC itself cannot even provide that explanation. Only the vice president supposedly can provide that explanation but she failed to do that over the years – which then explains kung bakit there’s really that attempt to conceal the assets and therefore a clear case of unexplained wealth,’ he said.

During the midsection of the trial on Tuesday, Escudero said the sum of Duterte’s net worth from 2022 to 2025 was at P336 million, but it is still short of the transactions recorded during that time – at P424 million.

‘It still did not reach P424 million. Meaning to say, assuming that nothing was spent from all of their assets and everything was deposited in the bank, it still would not reach this amount,’ Escudero pointed out.

Escudero then asked Buenavantura how the amount could be explained. When he saw that the AMLC head was struggling to respond, Escudero surmised that the witness could not explain the gap.

Buenaventura agreed, saying that he cannot explain it.

The net worth stated by a government official, as declared in his or her SALNs, is a result of financial movements for the year prior – be it acquisition of solid or liquid assets, loans, and other monetary changes. This means that the net worth for a current year has a direct correlation to the net worth stated in the previous year – and must not be taken as numbers that can be added together.

Moreover, Chua explained that Escudero’s hypothesis – lumping Duterte’s net worth for different years all together – means that non-cash assets like vehicles, real estate, jewelry, furniture, and other hard assets were considered.

In contrast, Chua noted that the AMLC’s report on the covered and suspicious transactions totaling to P4.4 billion only involved cash movements – indicating that the actual net worth could be higher.

‘Dapat tandaan din natin na ang SALN, halo-halo ‘yan, so ibig sabihin ‘pag sinabi mong halo-halo, nandirito na ‘yong real estate, cash, pati ‘yong mga, let’s say mga sasakyan, jewelry, furniture, and fixtures, and so forth and so on. ‘Yong sa AMLC na sinasabi na P4.4 billion, cash lang ‘yon, hindi po kasama do’n ‘yong ibang asset,’ he said.

(We should remember that inside SALNs are a mix of assets, so by saying it is a mixture, you have real estate, cash, including vehicles, jewelry, furniture, and fixtures, and so on and so forth. But the AMLC’s report of a P4.4 billion transaction, that’s only cash, it does not include other assets.)

‘So ‘yong transaction na ‘yon ay transaction na pera, hindi po transaction na kasama ‘yong mga lupa, hindi po kasama do’n. Pero do’n po sa ginawang explanation po o sample ng ating presiding officer, sinama na nga niya lahat eh […] ibig sabihin sinama niya dito pati ‘yong lupa, bahay, sasakyan, jewelry, baril, lahat na, sinama niya. And yet hindi pa rin aabot kahit man lamang kalahati or kahit man lamang one-fourth,’ he added.

(So the transactions listed only involve cash, it does not include land and others. But with the explanation or example made by our presiding officer, he even included everything […] including lands, real estate, vehicles, jewelry, firearms, everything. And yet it would not even reach half or one-fourth of the transactions.)

Duterte is being tried before the Senate Impeachment Court over four main allegations. As of now, the prosecution is presenting evidence of Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which focuses on her alleged unexplained wealth and her supposed failure to disclose these in her SALNs.

However, Adiong also said that the issues against Duterte have gone beyond mere non-declaration in her SALNs, as he believes it has already escalated to a national security concern.

Adiong was referring to the AMLC’s confirmation of financial transactions moving from accounts in China towards CALE88 Foods Corporation – a company owned by Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.

Last Friday, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed that CALE88 received over P319 million worth of funds from China-based companies and the Chinese government itself.

On Monday, upon the questioning of counsel for prosecution Mae Divinagracia, Buenaventura released reports showing that they recorded P319,326,770.41 worth of inward transactions coming from either the mainland China or Hong Kong, towards CALE88 – confirming Trillanes’ claims.

Duterte’s lawyers were able to secure confirmation from AMLC that there was no document showing the Chinese government’s involvement with companies that sent funds to CALE88.

However, Hontiveros eventually noted that her team studied the background of the two companies that transacted with CALE88 – China National Township Enterprises and the Beijing Jianweifang Food Company – revealing possible ties to the Chinese government.

Based on their research, Hontiveros said that China National Township Enterprises used to be directly under China’s Ministry of Agriculture, being a state-owned agricultural enterprise.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed three new associate justices in the Court of Appeals (CA) filling in the current vacancies in the 69-member court.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Presidential Communications Office said President Marcos has appointed Trade Undersecretary Allan Gepty; Parañaque Regional Trial Court – Branch 294 Presiding Judge Leilani Marie Dacanay-Grimares; and Las Piñas RTC Executive Judge Pia Cristina Bersamin-Embuscado as new CA associate justices.

In August, Marcos appointed Justice Assistant Secretary Randolph Pascasio as an associate justice of the CA.

The four were among the 80 nominees in a short list submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to President Marcos in July to fill the four vacancies for associate justice in the CA at the time.

They replaced the four retired associate justices of the CA, who reached the compulsory retirement age of 70, namely Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob, Evalyn Arellano-Morales, Marlene Biag Gonzales-Sison, and Apolinario Bruselas Jr.

The JBC has yet to submit to President Marcos a short list of nominees to replace former CA Associate Justice Rafael Antonio Santos, who availed of early retirement in February.

Bersamin-Embuscado

Bersamin-Embuscado is the eldest daughter of former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.

In November last year, Malacañang said the elder Bersamin and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman voluntarily resigned out of delicadeza after their names were mentioned in the flood control scandal.

Marcos’ second Executive Secretary, however, maintained that he was told to step down from his post.

President Marcos would eventually clear things out with Bersamin, saying ‘there’s no bad blood, there’s no acrimonious feeling [and] everything is fine’ between them.

Bersamin-Embuscado completed her communication research degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman. She then earned her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law, and successfully passed the 2004 Bar.

Gepty

Prior to his new appointment, Gepty was the Undersecretary for International Trade Group (ITG) at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), where he supervises the Bureau of International Trade Relations, the Strategic Trade Management Office, and the Philippine International Trading Corporation.

His main portfolio covers trade policy and trade negotiations at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels.

He earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree (Economics) from the UST in 1992 (cum laude), his law degree from San Beda College in 1997, and his Master of Laws degree from the UST in 2016 (summa cum laude).

He also teaches at the UST Faculty of Civil Law and Graduate School of Law

Dacanay-Grimares

Meanwhile, Dacanay-Grimares is also a faculty member of the UST Civil Law.

The heat index in parts of Olongapo City reached as high as 43°C on Wednesday morning, prompting warnings of possible heat-related illnesses with continued exposure to the heat.

According to the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, the heat index at the Barretto automatic weather station (AWS) reached 43°C as of 10:15 a.m., placing the area under the ‘danger’ category.

At the Old Cabalan AWS, the heat index was recorded at 40°C, which meant ‘extreme caution.’

At 43°C, people may experience heat cramps and heat exhaustion, while prolonged exposure may lead to heat stroke, according to the warning accompanying the heat index readings.

The 40°C reading at Old Cabalan carries the same health warning, with residents advised to limit prolonged exposure to the heat.

The heat index refers to the apparent temperature, or how hot it feels to the human body, based on air temperature and humidity.

In its Sept. 23 climate advisory, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said a strong El Niño was active in the tropical Pacific and was expected to intensify into a very strong event between September and December and persist through the first half of next year.

Pagasa said El Niño increases the likelihood of below-normal rainfall, dry spells and drought in parts of the country, as its latest climate outlook also points to warmer-than-usual temperatures.

The Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 will temporarily operate with nine trains from Tuesday to Sunday while it upgrades its train system, the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) said.

The LRTA said that only nine trains will run every Tuesday to Sunday in the LRT-2 line, which may cause longer waiting times and an increase in passenger volume.

This, as it is upgrading the Train Operating Control Panel (TOCP) of LRT-2 line trains, which takes five days per train, according to the LRTA.

‘The shift from the old analog system to the digital TOCP aims to enhance the onboard Public Address (PA) system. With the new system, the delivery of announcements and important communications for passengers will be automated,’ the LRTA said in a statement.

Meanwhile, all 10 trains will operate every Monday to accommodate the expected surge of commuters, it assured.

‘However, every Monday, when passenger traffic is expected to peak at the start of the week, all ten (10) operational trains will be deployed to ensure smooth service,’ the LRTA said.

The LRTA said that it will implement crowd control and passenger assistance measures in every station at LRT-2, while the nine-train operations are in effect.

‘The operational LRT-2 trains are over 27 years old, so they need to undergo upgrading and modernization,’ it said.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed on second reading a P7.2-trillion spending bill that would fund the government through next year.

Lawmakers approved on second reading via voice vote House Bill No. 10858, the 7,408-page spending measure detailing a record national budget to fund state operations, government salaries, infrastructure projects and key social services for 2027.

Though the timing of the vote means the House will miss its self-imposed Friday deadline for final passage due to a mandatory three-day cooling-off rule between legislation approval.

And in seeking to avoid a procedural delay, House leaders had requested the Senate’s permission to extend their legislative calendar to Monday next week so the lower chamber can formally pass the budget bill on final reading.

The floor adopted amendments reallocating around P116 billion from the executive’s draft budget, following recommendations from a select committee of ranking lawmakers to bolster flagship state assistance projects and infrastructure.

The People’s Budget Coalition, a civil group monitoring budget developments, said in a statement last week that ‘by our count, P99.41 billion of that, or 85 percent, went to items we tag as red flags,’ referring to the amendments made by the Budget Amendments Review Subcommittee (BARSc).

The bulk of rechanneled funding were streamed towards programs that rely on ‘politician referrals’ and ‘infrastructure insertions with opaque project plans,’ it said.

A chunk of the realigned budget includes P8.12 billion in additional funding for the education cluster and P20.86 billion for the agriculture sector. Lawmakers also lodged an extra P11.49 billion for infrastructure build up under the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The Department of Transportation also gained an additional P2.35 billion in realigned funding to cover public transit service contracting and the Edsa busway project, programs that received zero funding in the initial budget proposal.

Social safety nets also received a significant bump under the amendments, as lawmakers directed an additional P25 billion to the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s crisis assistance program and an extra P24.96 billion to the Department of Health’s indigent patient relief program.