Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Makabayan bloc lawmakers on Monday sought economic relief for farmers, fisherfolk, and other workers as the agricultural damage in the country due to El Niño already reached P6.87 billion.

ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Kabataan party-list Renee Co, and Gabriela Women’s Party Sarah Elago filed House Resolution No. 1496 urging the House committees on agriculture and food, aquaculture and fisheries resources, and labor and employment to probe the phenomenon, as well as to assess the government’s mitigation efforts.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) earlier said that El Niño may intensify into a ‘very strong’ phenomenon between September and December this year, and may persist until the first half of 2027.

Pagasa also said that the phenomenon may cause hotter temperatures and a significant decrease in the amount of rainfall.

Elago said that committee hearings into the phenomenon must continue given that the House of Representatives is in the period of amendments for its version of the 2027 General Appropriations Bill. As the lower chamber wrapped up its plenary deliberations on the P7.2-trillion budget bill, it will now be discussed on the floor for its second reading.

‘It is important to ensure that the national funds for 2027 allocate a budget for the impact of the El Niño to the farmers, fisherfolk, and workers,’ Elago told reporters in an interview.

Elago said that she is pushing for the production subsidy for farmers and fisherfolk worth P50,000 and P30,000, respectively.

‘It is important, especially now that prices of fuel products and fertilizer increase, that it is much more needed to provide subsidies for farmers and fisherfolk. Preparing for Super El Niño must include the local agriculture, the labor sector, and the public,’ she added.

Last Sept. 26, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said that El Niño has already affected 223,214 farmers in 14 regions in the country, with damage in the agriculture sector already reaching P6.87 billion.

The DA noted that 163,812 million metric tons of agricultural produce, which span 249,028 hectares of land, have been damaged.

In the same interview, Co said that she will push for amendments to include production subsidies for farmers and fisherfolk, emphasizing that they must not be left behind as the country faces the drastic effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

Last Thursday, the House’s Budget Amendments Review Subcommittee approved an additional P16 billion for the budget of the DA for next year. This aims to support agricultural programs amid the effects of El Niño in the country.

The DA was allocated P198.45 billion under the P7.2 trillion 2027 National Expenditure Program.

Farmer groups Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK) expressed their support in the filing of the resolution.

KMP chairman emeritus Rafael Mariano said that the government must implement program interventions to mitigate the effects of El Niño in the country. He also said that concerned government agencies must coordinate to provide strategic measures to address the phenomenon.

‘The government must have program intervention for us, especially now that the House is in the period of amendments for the 2027 budget. It is important for us to receive compensation for losses from the phenomenon,’ Mariano shared in the same interview.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday urged economic managers to suspend, even temporarily, the excise on gasoline and diesel, not just on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), amid surging fuel prices.

‘The economic managers should reconsider suspending the tax on gasoline and diesel, even if only temporarily, because oil prices have reached over $80 a barrel again and continue to increase. There is now sufficient reason to suspend it,’ he said in a radio interview with dzBB.

‘[It] should already be suspended because diesel and gasoline are also used by logistics companies and the cost is passed on to food prices,’ Gatchalian added.

‘[It] need not be [done] for [a] long period of time, but at least while the gasoline prices are high,’ he said.

Last month, President Marcos issued Executive Order No. 125, which temporarily suspended the excise on LPG and kerosene to ease the impact of surging fuel prices on consumers.

‘Kerosene and LPG are used for cooking so [the suspension of the tax] really helps. But we also need to look at the logistics, especially the jeepneys, transportation, our mass transportation. It’s really unfortunate for our drivers, who are much affected when the price of crude oil increases,’ Gatchalian said.

Fare increase

Most public transport vehicles, particularly jeepneys, use diesel for fuel. Although the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has granted a P1 fare increase, jeepney drivers and operators said they would much rather prefer the suspension of tax on diesel.

Gatchalian, however, acknowledged that Finance Secretary Frederick Go had previously warned that removing excise on diesel and gasoline could cost the government as much as P12 billion in forgone revenues per month.

‘I understand that this is not an easy decision because there would be financial losses. But let’s also look at its impact on our drivers and food products. So, our economic managers should reconsider [suspending it] even temporarily,’ he said.

The Cebu provincial government suspended classes at all levels in public and private schools across the province starting at noon on Monday to mark National Teachers’ Day and World Teachers’ Day.

Gov. Pamela S. Baricuatro signed Executive Order No. 54, Series of 2026, ordering the provincewide suspension.

The order allows classes scheduled before noon to proceed, subject to individual schools’ and education authorities’ policies and discretion.

The order cited Republic Act No. 10743, or the National Teachers’ Day Act, which declares Oct. 5 as National Teachers’ Day.

It also cited Presidential Proclamation No. 242, Series of 2011, which designates Sept. 5 to Oct. 5 as National Teachers’ Month.

Schools were encouraged to devote the afternoon to programs and other meaningful activities celebrating teachers and their role in the intellectual, moral, social, and civic development of young people. The executive order took effect immediately upon issuance.

Inflation may have climbed to its highest level in five months in September, moving further above the government’s target as bad weather disrupted food supplies and higher oil prices added to cost pressures.

The consumer price index may have accelerated to 6.8 percent last month, according to the median estimate of 19 economists polled by the Inquirer last week.

That would mark a sharp increase from the 6.1-percent rate in August, ending four consecutive months of easing inflation.

If the estimate holds, the September reading would be the highest since April, when inflation reached 7.2 percent.

It would also fall within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) forecast range of 6.4 percent to 7.4 percent.

Overall, the market consensus and the central bank’s forecast both point to inflation moving further away from the government’s 3-percent target.

The Philippine Statistics Authority will release the September inflation data on Oct. 6.

Euben Paracuelles, chief Asean economist at Nomura, said core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, may have also picked up last month as higher costs filtered through to consumers.

He estimated headline inflation at 7.1 percent.

‘We expect headline inflation to rise, driven by a pickup in food prices due to weather-related disruptions,’ Paracuelles said. ‘In addition, retail fuel prices have also been adjusted higher, in line with resurging global crude oil prices.’

The government said the combined effects of enhanced monsoon rains and Tropical Cyclones ‘Luis,’ ‘Maymay,’ ‘Neneng’ and ‘Pilandok’ had damaged P4.38 billion worth of agricultural produce nationwide.

Meanwhile, local oil companies raised pump prices three times in September amid a prolonged war in the Middle East, according to energy department data.

Eugene Tan, associate economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the peso’s depreciation, which pushed it close to 63 per dollar last month, also added to inflationary pressures. ‘Beyond energy, the relatively weak peso is also contributing to higher import costs and broader price pressures,’ Tan said while estimating a 6.5-percent inflation rate.

In August, the BSP delivered its third quarter-point rate increase of the current tightening cycle, lifting its benchmark to 5 percent as policymakers sought to ‘preempt’ inflation risks from a severe El Niño episode and impending wage increases.

The move leaves the central bank facing a delicate trade-off: Containing price pressures without further weighing on an economy that expanded just 2.6 percent in the first half of the year.

Tan said the BSP could pause at its Oct. 22 policy meeting as the economy absorbs the effects of previous rate increases. But a hotter-than-expected inflation reading in September could prompt policymakers to tighten again, he said.

Miguel Chanco, chief emerging Asia economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said inflation could remain above 6 percent through the end of the year, potentially putting pressure on the BSP to keep its focus on containing price increases. He estimated September inflation at 6.9 percent.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s July unemployment rate of 6 percent, the highest since 2022, deserved more alarm than it received. The official explanation was simple: more young Filipinos entered the labor force than the economy could absorb.

But that supply-side account leaves out an equally important demand-side question: is the country’s main entry point for new graduates-the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector-quietly narrowing just as more young workers are trying to get in?

Economists call this technological unemployment or the risk that labor-saving innovation advances faster than the economy can create new uses for workers.

Keynes coined the term in 1930.

More recently, Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu and associates have described its effects through three channels: (1) displacement, when machines take over tasks previously performed by people; (2) productivity, when cheaper output creates demand and jobs elsewhere; and (3) reinstatement, when technology creates entirely new tasks that require human labor.

For the Philippines, the central question is whether artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) displacement effect in BPO is beginning to outpace its reinstatement effect.

The honest answer is that the data are still incomplete.

Even so, the country’s labor-market structure gives little reason for complacency.

Consider the role BPO plays.

It is not simply one industry among many; it is the default absorption mechanism for roughly 850,000 graduates a year, regardless of major, because it hires on English fluency and communication skill rather than degree specificity, trains in-house, and requires no prior experience.

No other formal-sector employer in the country operates at that scale or with that little credential-gating.

When the International Labour Organization estimates that 89 percent of BPO roles carry high automation risk under current generative AI capability, the concern is not abstract.

It is an issue about the single largest on-ramp into formal employment quietly narrowing at exactly the moment record numbers of young Filipinos are trying to walk through it.

Missing manufacturing cushion

This is where the country’s long-standing structural weakness compounds the new one.

The Philippines never built the labor-intensive manufacturing base that historically absorbed workers displaced from one sector into another, what Harvard economist Dani Rodrik has called premature deindustrialization.

Manufacturing has hovered around 17 percent to 18 percent of employment for decades, never developing the Vietnam- or Bangladesh-style garment-and-assembly sector that could catch workers falling out of services.

If BPO’s entry-level function does compress, there is no obvious rung below it to absorb the fall.

Now enter Pax Silica, the US-led semiconductor and AI supply-chain initiative the Philippines joined in April.

On paper, the 1,620-hectare hub planned for New Clark City looks like precisely the missing piece: a genuine manufacturing anchor, projected at $40 billion to $70 billion in investment and 130,000 to 190,000 jobs.

But look closely at what kind of manufacturing this is. Semiconductor packaging, AI computing infrastructure and advanced electronics assembly are among the most capital-intensive, least labor-absorptive segments of manufacturing that exist.

This is not the labor-hungry manufacturing that premature-deindustrialization theory says the Philippines needs.

It risks reproducing, at a larger scale, the same pattern already visible in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and BOI investment data, i.e., pledged capital rising while projected jobs per peso invested keep falling.

A parallel labor market

Nor do the jobs on offer match the workers most exposed to displacement.

Semiconductor engineering and AI infrastructure roles require specific technical training that the general BPO-bound graduate does not currently possess.

Pax Silica, as designed, creates a parallel, smaller, higher-skill labor market. It does not extend the same one that currently serves as the country’s employment safety valve.

A recent industry survey found that while 72 percent of Philippine firms are already piloting or deploying AI, only 17 percent can recruit sufficient AI-skilled talent.

That gap is the whole ballgame.

It determines whether Pax Silica functions as reinstatement-new AI-complementary jobs offsetting the ones AI displaces-or as one more capital-intensive enclave sitting beside a hollowing-out BPO sector, disconnected from it.

What preparation would actually require

The conclusion is not that the Philippines should resist AI adoption or delay Pax Silica. Instead, with the AI transition already underway, it must urgently pursue functional upgrading.

Manufacturing alone will not shield the labor market from AI-driven displacement unless workforce preparation keeps pace with capital investment.

That means scaling technical and vocational training for semiconductor and AI-infrastructure roles now, ahead of the hub’s construction timeline, not after.

Allegations over the use of P66 million in tobacco excise tax shares sparked a heated exchange between the town’s vice mayor and village officials during a Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council) session on Monday.

Vice Mayor Jeryll Harold Respicio questioned village officials during the council’s question hour about the status of projects funded by the municipality’s tobacco excise tax share, pressing for greater accountability in the use of funds intended to benefit tobacco farmers.

The proceedings, aired live on Respicio’s Facebook account, turned tense as the vice mayor and village officials exchanged heated words, including profanity, while discussing the allocation and implementation of projects funded by the tobacco excise tax.

Respicio sought updates on projects financed through the previous year’s tobacco excise tax share, including those he said remained unfinished or had yet to be implemented. He also questioned whether the funds were directed toward programs that directly benefited tobacco farmers.

The vice mayor raised concerns over the alleged exclusion of tobacco farmers from the session, saying their presence could have helped clarify questions surrounding the release and use of the funds.

In a statement, Mayor Malou Respicio-Saguban defended the municipal government’s use of the tobacco excise tax funds, saying the allocations complied with legal guidelines governing development funds and supported long-term investments in the town’s barangays.

Reina Mercedes is among Isabela’s major tobacco-producing municipalities and hosts a private tobacco processing company. It receives annual shares from national tobacco excise tax collections under Republic Act No. 8240, which are intended to support programs such as livelihood, cooperative development and infrastructure projects.

The controversy centers on how the municipality’s P66-million tobacco excise tax share was allocated and implemented, with the vice mayor raising questions over project completion and direct assistance to farmers while the mayor maintained that the funds were used in accordance with government guidelines.

The tobacco excise tax, commonly known as a ‘sin tax,’ is collected from tobacco products, with portions of the proceeds allocated under existing laws to various government programs, including support for tobacco-producing communities.

Nine towns in Pangasinan have revoked executive orders suspending classes on Monday, Oct. 5, which is both World Teachers’ Day and National Teachers’ Day.

The municipal governments of Sison, Lingayen, Labrador, San Fabian, Mangaldan, San Jacinto, Infanta, Pozorrubio and Mangatarem announced the reversals on social media, apologizing to teachers, parents and students and saying classes at all levels would resume.

The decisions came after consultations with the Department of Education (DepEd).

‘While World Teachers’ Day is recognized as a special working holiday under Republic Act No. 10743, its observance does not automatically result in the suspension of classes,’ the Mangaldan government said. ‘The scheduling and operation of classes remain subject to the policies, guidelines, and issuances of the Department of Education.’

Lingayen recalled Executive Order No. 101-2026, which had suspended classes on Monday, saying school activities would proceed ‘in order to align with and respect the authority and existing calendar of (DepEd).’

The municipal government apologized for the confusion caused by the earlier announcement.

Mangatarem also revoked Executive Order No. 210-2026 after reviewing the order and said classes would proceed in all public and private schools.

The town government said the reversal did not diminish its appreciation for teachers and that it remained one with the community in celebrating World Teachers’ Day.

San Fabian withdrew its class suspension ‘following further review of the applicable laws, rules, regulations, and existing policies and guidelines governing the suspension of classes and the operation of public schools.’

San Jacinto also said classes in all public schools would proceed, while the National Teachers’ Day celebration would continue in accordance with DepEd programs and guidelines.

Labrador Mayor Noel Uson, meanwhile, simply apologized for revoking his order, saying: ‘Sorry My Dear Teachers!’

Before she became a teacher, Gloria Lintawagin Reyes knew what it was like to enter a classroom carrying not only her schoolbooks but also the full weight of being Mangyan.

‘I was born into a simple family. My parents were unable to attend school. Because of our difficult circumstances, I dreamed of finishing my education and becoming a teacher someday so I could have a good job,’ said Gloria, 36, in a recent interview.

But school also exposed her to discrimination.

‘During my elementary school years, I experienced unequal treatment from Tagalog people toward us Mangyans. We experienced discrimination,’ she said.

She recalled being called ‘Mangyan, mangmang,’ words that stayed with her even as she continued her education.

‘My family and the discrimination I experienced became my inspiration to continue my education. Whenever I remember those experiences, I become even more determined to pursue my studies,’ Gloria said.

Today, Gloria and her husband, Arnold Reyes, 40, are teachers serving indigenous children in some of the most remote communities of Oriental Mindoro.

For the couple, teaching is more than a profession. It is a way to open opportunities for Mangyan children while helping them preserve the culture, language, and identity they bring into the classroom.

‘I chose to become a teacher so I could share my knowledge, experiences, and inspiration with my students, and help reduce discrimination against Mangyan children because one of their teachers is also an Indigenous Mangyan,’ she said.

Remote classroom

Arnold, a Buhid Mangyan from Bongabong, helped establish Naswak Hatubuan Bangon Elementary School, which serves learners in a mountainous community where reaching school can be difficult and dangerous.

Before becoming a permanent Department of Education teacher in 2018, he served as a volunteer teacher with the Mangyan Mission and the Holy Spirit Sisters.

He continues to travel to the community every week, crossing rivers and helping repair damaged bridges to keep the route to school open.

In August, 12 teachers were reportedly stranded after the Bongabong River suddenly rose and were later rescued by police and disaster responders.

For teachers assigned to remote indigenous communities, reaching the classroom can be an act of perseverance.

Gloria, who belongs to the Alangan Mangyan tribe, also experienced the challenge of teaching children from another Mangyan group.

‘It was difficult for me to teach the Bangon tribe because I came from the Alangan tribe. But we have similar cultures and traditions, so I was able to adapt some of the lessons,’ she said.

Her background in anthropology also helped her understand the importance of culture in education.

Gloria uses Mangyan languages, traditions, and indigenous knowledge in her lessons, including Bangon and Buhid languages, traditional songs and stories, and examples drawn from the children’s daily lives.

‘It is important for Mangyan children to see their culture inside the classroom. While they are learning modern knowledge, they should not forget their culture but instead enrich it further,’ she said.

She also believes lessons should be connected to the real lives and experiences of indigenous children.

Building confidence

For Gloria, some of the most rewarding moments come when students realize that lessons they once feared are within their reach.

‘This is how easy it is, Ma’am. We thought studying was difficult. We thought we couldn’t do it,’ students would tell her.

She has also seen shy learners gradually gain confidence.

‘The biggest change we have seen in our students is that they have gained self-confidence. Before, they would not answer. Now, they are gradually learning to interact with other people,’ she said.

One former student illustrates what that confidence can lead to.

Gloria recalled a learner who walked three hours every day to attend school, sometimes braving floods and heavy rain. That student is now teaching at Naswak Hatubuan Bangon High School.

For Gloria, it’s a reminder that the children she teaches can eventually become the people who serve the next generation.

Difficult journey

The couple’s commitment to the Bangon community came with a personal loss.

While serving the community, they lost their firstborn child.

‘There were times when we wanted to give up because while we were serving the Bangon tribe, we lost our firstborn. It felt as if our dreams had collapsed and we no longer wanted to continue,’ Gloria said.

Support from their family, friends, the Holy Spirit Sisters, and the Mangyan Mission helped them move forward.

‘They believed that we could overcome this, and there are still many people waiting for our service,’ she said.

The couple continued teaching and serving the community, with their two daughters growing up in a family where education and service are part of everyday life.

Gloria believes education can help Mangyan communities confront discrimination while strengthening their confidence in their own identity.

‘Education plays a big role in the Mangyan community because it can become a way to eliminate discrimination against us Mangyans,’ she said.

At the same time, she wants her students to adapt to modern education without losing their roots.

‘We help Mangyan children take pride in their identity while adapting to modern education by continuing to use their own language and encouraging them to be proud that they belong to the Mangyan tribe,’ Gloria said.

Her dream goes beyond seeing her students graduate.

1-Rider party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez urged authorities on Sunday to ensure that the resumption of the No Contact Apprehension Policy (NCAP) on Monday in five cities in Metro Manila does not penalize motorists for circumstances beyond their control.

The Philippine National Police, for its part, said it was ready to assist in the implementation of the policy.

The NCAP will again be enforced in Manila, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Quezon City and San Juan, while Valenzuela is deferring its implementation for an unspecified date due to ongoing roadworks and changing traffic conditions.

Under the policy, local government units use footage and images captured by digital and closed-circuit TV cameras to identify motorists who violate traffic rules. Traffic citation tickets are then sent to the registered vehicle owners.

‘We maintain that motorists should not be penalized for circumstances beyond their control,’ 1-Rider Partylist Rep. Rodge Gutierrez said in a statement, citing, for instance, poor road conditions, unclear signage, and defective infrastructure.

‘We will closely monitor the same, to the end that it is applied fairly, consistently, and with due regard for the rights and safety of all road users, particularly motorcycle riders,’ he added.

Gutierrez said a camera-based enforcement system should not function as an ‘automatic penalty machine.’

Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko’ Moreno Domagoso warned motorists, including government employees, that they would have ‘no more excuses’ as the city on Monday, Oct. 5, began implementing its enhanced No Contact Apprehension Program (NCAP 2.0).

‘Motorists who abuse the roads have no more excuses because today, we are beginning to implement the no-contact apprehension program,’ Domagoso said during the flag-raising ceremony at Manila City Hall.

Domagoso said Manila had already implemented NCAP during his first term as mayor, from 2019 to 2022, and claimed it resulted in the apprehension of hundreds of thousands of motorists. ‘NCAP 2.0,’ an enhanced version of the program, is now being implemented again in the city during his second term.

The mayor said that under NCAP 2.0, the system, which uses upgraded high-resolution cameras to capture clearer images of traffic violations, would make it harder for motorists to evade apprehension.

‘You cannot argue with technology. We may argue with our enforcers, but with technology, you’re caught. In the end, there is no escape,’ Domagoso said partly in Filipino.

Under Manila’s NCAP 2.0, however, a camera capture alone does not constitute a violation. Authorized NCAP personnel must first review and validate each recorded incident before a Notice of Violation is issued.

Fines and penalties will follow the Metro Manila Traffic Code of 2023, the city government said, while motorists who believe they were wrongly apprehended may file a protest online through the NCAP portal.

Motorists may pay valid fines online or in person at the local government unit (LGU) where the violation occurred.

Domagoso also reminded motorists not to ignore notices sent to their homes, saying penalties would continue to accumulate if they failed to act on them.

‘I am reminding you, especially those of us in government, that no-contact apprehension is now being implemented in Manila. Never, ever ignore the notice that will arrive at your home because you will no longer be able to evade it, and the penalty will simply accumulate,’ he said.

Domagoso said the system would apply regardless of a person’s social or economic status.

‘But the good thing about this is that the poor are protected, the middle class is protected, and the rich are protected because under no-contact apprehension, everyone is treated equally. There will be no bullies, no one with connections. If you violate the rules, that’s it, you get a penalty,’ he added.

He also said the system would limit opportunities for motorists to negotiate with traffic enforcers over violations.

‘So be careful when driving because, little by little, we will achieve certainty in the enforcement of our rules. There will no longer be any enforcer you can plead with or make a deal with,’ he said.

‘At the same time, the enforcers, whoever they may be, most likely, if there are any [who engage in such practices], there will be nothing they can gain from it, so they will have to straighten up and straighten up,’ he added.

He reiterated that government workers should also follow traffic rules and serve as examples to the public.

‘But I will repeat, no-contact apprehension applies to everyone, regardless of their status. So those of us in government should serve as examples of compliance with traffic laws,’ the mayor said.

NCAP returns in 5 Metro Manila cities

Manila’s rollout is part of the return of the camera-based traffic enforcement system in five Metro Manila cities: Manila, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Quezon City and San Juan.

The five local government units resumed or began enforcing NCAP on Monday, months after the Supreme Court lifted its temporary restraining order against the system.

Valenzuela, which had also announced plans to bring back NCAP, deferred its implementation because of ongoing roadworks and changing traffic conditions.

The system uses closed-circuit television cameras, digital cameras and other technology to record vehicles suspected of violating traffic rules without requiring traffic enforcers to stop motorists on the road. The system reviews the recorded violations before issuing notices to registered vehicle owners.