Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Labor group Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) called for decent jobs and higher wages amid improvements in the country’s labor market in August.

The August Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed the number of employed Filipinos rising from 49.21 million in July to 49.79 million in August, while unemployment declined from 6 percent to 5.3 percent and underemployment fell from 12.9 percent to 11.9 percent.

‘Far from healthy’

SENTRO welcomed the gains but said the country’s jobs situation remained ‘far from healthy,’ pointing to the composition of the employment increase and the decline in working hours.

The labor group said the largest increase in employment from July to August came from unpaid workers in their own family-operated farm or business, followed by self-employed workers and those working for private households.

SENTRO said the same pattern was seen in the year-on-year increase in employment from August 2025 to August 2026.

‘This tells us something important about the nature of the employment being generated,’ SENTRO said.

‘An increase in the number of employed Filipinos does not necessarily mean an increase in the number of Filipinos finding stable, adequately paid jobs,’ it added.

The group said the increase in unpaid family workers, self-employed workers without employees and household workers raised questions about whether the economy was creating decent work or absorbing workers into precarious and low-income livelihoods.

Enough work, income

SENTRO also pointed to the decline in average working hours, which fell to 39.2 hours a week in August from 40.6 hours in July and 41 hours in August 2025.

It said the focus should therefore not only be on whether Filipinos have jobs, but whether those jobs provide enough work and income to live decently.

‘Encouraging’

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), meanwhile, welcomed the improvement in the August labor market, describing the increase in employment and decline in unemployment as encouraging.

Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino said the labor department would focus on ensuring that jobseekers are connected to opportunities, workers have relevant skills and employment assistance leads to more sustainable work.

‘Our task is to make sure that jobseekers are connected to opportunities, workers have relevant skills, and employment assistance leads to more sustainable work,’ Tolentino said.

Tolentino emphasized that DOLE’s efforts go beyond improving labor market indicators, highlighting the need to ensure that more Filipinos gain access to decent, productive and sustainable work.

‘Our success should be measured not only by how many workers we assist today, but by how many are able to move forward tomorrow through a job, new skills, an enterprise, or a better livelihood,’ Tolentino said.

Wage issue

SENTRO said the need for better-paying jobs was particularly urgent amid rising prices.

The group cited the Philippine Statistics Authority’s report showing that inflation accelerated to 7.2 percent in September, with food inflation at 6.7 percent and transport inflation at 14.6 percent.

SENTRO called for an immediate P200 across-the-board national wage increase to restore workers’ purchasing power and stimulate domestic consumption.

It also called for a genuine industrial policy backed by public investment, a public employment program that provides meaningful and productive work, stronger protection for workers in informal, precarious and platform-based employment, and a national dialogue on the cost-of-living crisis.

‘The August LFS tells us that Filipinos are willing to work. The challenge is whether the economy can provide them with enough work, decent wages and secure livelihoods,’ SENTRO said.

Digital rights group Digital Pinoys is urging transport network companies (TNCs) to implement the authorized pick-up fare scheme immediately, saying delays in updating their platforms could affect both drivers and commuters.

The group made the call after the inDrive country manager acknowledged in a recent radio interview that the platform’s system for implementing the pick-up fare is still being developed.

Digital Pinoys said technical adjustments may be necessary but should not unnecessarily delay the implementation of the approved fare.

‘Implementation should not be unnecessarily delayed,’ the group said, noting that ride-hailing drivers are already facing higher operating costs, including fuel prices.

It said fares that do not adequately cover the cost of providing a trip could make drivers less willing to accept certain bookings.

‘This can result in increased non-acceptance and cancellation of trips, ultimately affecting commuters who depend on motorcycle taxis for their daily transportation,’ the group added.

Digital Pinoys also said a fare adjustment should not be viewed solely as an added burden on passengers, noting that drivers also shoulder fuel, maintenance, and other operating expenses.

‘A fair fare structure will benefit consumers as well,’ it said, arguing that better earnings could encourage drivers to remain available on platforms and improve trip acceptance.

The group called on inDrive and other TNCs to fast-track the development and implementation of their pickup fare systems and ensure that the authorized fare structure is reflected on their platforms.

It also urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to ensure that approved fare adjustments are promptly implemented across covered platforms.

If Vice President Sara Duterte indeed had P96 million in joint time deposit accounts with her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, the amount should have been reflected in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said.

Testifying before the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Central Metro Manila Branches Division Head Marwin Galvez confirmed that the father and daughter opened joint time deposit accounts worth P40 million and P55 million in 2010.

According to public prosecutor James Bryan Ibrahim Alih, the P40 million joint account had grown to P41.72 million when it matured in March 2011. This brought the total value of the two accounts to P96 million.

The P96 million fund was later used to purchase manager’s checks starting in 2011, according to the prosecutor.

Alih was responding to Gatchalian, who asked how the fund was transferred from the joint accounts to the bank as payment for the manager’s checks.

‘The reason why I am asking is because I’m comparing this with Vice President Sara’s Saln. If there was a P96 million joint time deposit account, that should have been reflected in her Saln because it was a joint account and she knew that such an account existed,’ the Senate chief said.

However, Gatchalian said he could not find a P96 million entry when he reviewed the vice president’s 2010 SALN.

‘I’m trying to link that to what you said earlier about purchasing a manager’s check, depositing the funds first into the bank account, and the manager’s check becoming unutilized. I’m trying to link that to the Saln to see if there is a pattern. That’s the point I’m trying to make,’ he explained.

While recognizing the questions raised by the Senate chief, defense lawyer Michael Poa insisted that the vice president had no knowledge of the transactions involving the joint accounts.

‘I think the good Senate president’s question is correct. The operative phrase is, ‘if she is aware.’ You were saying that these accounts, the time deposits, if she was aware of them, should have been reflected in the SALN. The operative phrase there is, ‘if she is aware,’ Poa said.

‘And secondly, as we demonstrated during cross-examination, none of these time deposits or transactions bore the signature of our Vice President. And all of them were done by the former President Rodrigo R. Duterte. We’ll leave it at that, Your Honor. We will not make conclusions of law or facts,’ he added.

Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros later pursued Gatchalian’s line of questioning and asked the defense lawyer whether the former president was the real owner of the accounts, and not the vice president.

Hontiveros also read Poa’s letter to BPI Legal, in which he said that the vice president had ‘no knowledge, participation, or recollection of maintaining or having any beneficial interest’ in the two accounts with the bank.

‘So my related question regarding this letter you sent to BPI Legal, Attorney Poa, is this: Based on what you have said so far, my understanding is that the actual owner of and the person who controlled the P41 million manager’s check was Rodrigo Roa Duterte, and not Sara Duterte. Is that correct?’ she asked.

The National Bureau of Investigation said it has ‘validated’ two residences that a dismissed police officer claimed to be ‘cash houses’ owned by former Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and his wife.

‘We validated his claim regarding the so-called cash houses, and we were able to establish that two of these seven cash houses are owned by the Velasco spouses,’ NBI Director Melvin Matibag told reporters on Oct 6.

He was referring to earlier allegations by dismissed patrolman Rodulfo Gracioso Jr. that he had served as a bagman for Velasco, delivering amounts totaling more than P2 billion for Vice President Sara Duterte, P1 billion for former President Rodrigo Duterte, and P100 million for Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte.

Matibag said the two cash houses were a residence on Champaca Street and another home on Sampaguita Street, both in Valle Verde 2, a gated community in Pasig.

Velasco-led firms

According to the NBI, the residence on Champaca Street is registered to a company called Eagle Assets and Realty Inc., of which Velasco’s wife Rowena is listed as president.

The house on Sampaguita Street is listed in Eagle’s registration documents as its office address and is ‘titled to a member of Rowena’s personal staff,’ the bureau said.

Matibag also said the NBI is investigating two resorts owned by the Velascos, as affirmed by Gracioso and also established by the agency’s check on the registration of those properties.

According to the bureau, an establishment in Torrijos, Marinduque called SARA Resort and Cabanas is operated by 888 Wealth Star Corp.-of which Rowena Velasco is president and chair, holding 60 percent of that company’s shares.

There are also company shares ‘assigned without consideration,’ Matibag said. ‘We are investigating that.’

He said the other property, Amara Resort and Villas, is operated by Amara Equity Ventures Inc., of which the Velasco couple serve as principal incorporators, holding 80 percent of its subscribed shares.

‘False accusations’

‘Amara is the second name of Rowena, [because her full name is] Rowena Amara Enriquez-Velasco,’ the NBI chief said. ‘What does this mean? Mr. Gracioso is on the mark with his claims regarding the homes and properties of the Velascos.’

The Inquirer reached out to one of the lawyers of the Velasco couple who has yet to respond, as of this writing.

But these lawyers appeared before the NBI on Monday upon its invitation and have received Gracioso’s affidavit detailing his allegations against the Velascos and Dutertes.

The Vice President on Tuesday denied what she counted as 29 ‘false accusations’ by Gracioso. Addressing a press conference in the Duterte family’s bailiwick of Davao City, she said she believed Gracioso had no personal grudge against her and was instead seeking to settle scores with former Speaker Velasco, his former employer.

In response, Matibag urged Duterte to ‘present to us what are the 29 violations [against you], then we’ll be more than willing to investigate and compare [these with] the other evidence.’

The NBI had earlier asked the Vice President to explain her side regarding Gracioso’s claims. Her camp requested that appointment scheduled on Oct. 8.

Matibag said the NBI had also invited Representative Duterte, who was unable to appear on Monday and has rescheduled his meeting with the bureau to Oct. 12.

‘We’re giving them leeway. Actually it’s an invitation, not a subpoena. So hopefully, if they really have claims, either they come here or present the document via letter, attach the evidence, then the NBI will do our job to investigate it,’ Matibag said.

The Iligan City government, the Department of the Interior and Local Government – Region 10 (DILG-10), and the Iligan City People’s Council (ICPC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a Civil Society Organization (CSO) Academy here, a pilot program aimed at strengthening CSOs in local governance.

Mayor Frederick Siao, DILG City Director Maria Maida Daniot, representing DILG-10 Regional Director Bruce A. Colao, and ICPC Chairperson Abelardo A. Moya signed the agreement on Monday, October 5.

The CSO Academy will provide training and capacity-building programs in local governance, technical writing, project development and management, financial management, and policy engagement.

The ICPC currently has 160 member organizations, 74 of which are accredited by the local government.

The initiative seeks to strengthen collaboration between the local government and civil society and promote greater participation of various sectors in developing programs and policies for the city.

The Political Finance and Affairs Division (PFAD) of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) found ‘inconsistencies’ between Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s statements during his TV interview, where he admitted to receiving campaign donations from ‘friends,’ and the verified position paper he submitted to the poll body.

During Marcoleta’s trial before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division on Wednesday on his alleged violation of Presidential Decree No. 46, lawyer Victoria Besinio from the Comelec PFAD testified before the court as one of the prosecution’s witnesses.

The defense noted during the proceedings that Besinio cited certain inconsistencies between Macoleta’s TV remarks and his verified position paper submitted to the Comelec.

When asked what these inconsistencies were, Besinio said Marcoleta had implied in his interview that the funds he received were donated for his campaign as a senatorial candidate in the 2025 elections.

But Marcoleta later argued in his verified position paper that the donation ‘could not have intended to influence the results of the electoral exercise’ and were received as part of his personal funds.

Besinio, however, maintained that the PFAD made no ‘categorical finding’ on the nature of the funds received by Marcoleta.

The senator is currently facing two counts of violating PD 46, which prohibits government officials and employees from accepting gifts, regardless of the occasion, in the anti-graft court’s First and Fourth Divisions.

The Office of the Ombudsman filed charges of plunder and violation of PD No. 46 against the senator last July over a P75-million campaign donation that he received from three donors while he was a sitting party-list representative.

The PFAD earlier probed Marcoleta over his alleged violation of the Omnibus Election Code after he admitted in a TV interview that he did not disclose the campaign contributions he received in his statement of contributions and expenditures because the donors asked to remain anonymous.

The Comelec unit, however, eventually terminated its investigation and cleared Marcoleta of any violation of the election code.

The August Twenty-One Movement (Atom) on Wednesday denounced President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his trip to Singapore, where he is expected to attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix, as Filipinos grapple with rising fuel and electricity prices.

In a statement, the group described Marcos as an ‘apathetic, indifferent, carefree’ leader and questioned his decision to make another trip to Singapore to attend a luxury event it said was associated with heavy fuel consumption amid a global energy crisis.

The group said Marcos’ work schedule coinciding with the Singapore F1 event was not the first such instance during his presidency.

‘How hard is it to decline invites like this, especially given the current crisis our people are facing?’ it said.

It recalled how the late President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino, a sports car enthusiast, had always declined invitations from former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to watch F1 races.

‘He felt that such a trip would be purely for recreation, and it was inappropriate to use the influence of his office and public funds for personal matters,’ Aquino’s former executive assistant Raf Ignacio recalled in a Facebook post in October 2022.

According to Atom, Marcos’ insistence on proceeding with the F1 race – despite incurring ‘almost no expense’ from the government – brought back memories of the Marcos family’s lavish lifestyle and insensitivity to the Filipinos’ plight during the final years of his father’s dictatorship.

‘Mr. Marcos Jr., you promised that ‘we will rise again together,’ but instead you have dragged us all down into crises that rival only those caused by your dictator father,’ it said.

Duterte also criticized

Atom also attacked Vice President Sara Duterte, accusing her of being in ‘connivance with an oppressive neighbor’ of the country and of engaging in conduct unbecoming of a national official.

‘Do you really love the Philippines, or do you love more the country that is illegally taking our territory?’ it told Duterte.

The National Security Council said it would investigate reports of foreign financial inflows from Chinese-owned state firms directed toward companies linked to the Duterte family, which emerged during the ongoing impeachment proceedings.

According to Atom, the Philippines was an ‘unlucky nation,’ as it has ‘two of the most problematic and selfish leaders in our history serving in one six-year term.’

The movement also accused both Marcos and Duterte of conspiring against each other in their struggle for political power at the expense of Filipinos.

NLEX, behind new import Deonte Burton, hit two birds with one stone in routing hapless guest team Macau, 138-78, as the PBA Governors’ Cup finally resumed from a long break on Wednesday at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The 60-point victory enabled the Road Warriors to secure the first quarterfinals berth in Group A while also setting the record for the most lopsided game in league history, erasing the previous mark of 56.

That margin, which Rain or Shine orchestrated at the expense of Blackwater, 151-95, in the Commissioner’s Cup, came only last March.

Burton finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and six steals in a splendid debut after being tapped by the Road Warriors following DeQuan Jones’ gruesome leg injury before the break.

With Burton showing no signs of being on an adjustment stage, Schonny Winston topping all scorers with 25 and Robert Bolick adding 14 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals, the Road Warriors regained sole possession of the lead in Group A with an 8-2 record.

Macau was forced to be on the gloomy side of the new league mark and fell to a 2-7 win-loss slate.

The Giant Pandas came into the contest with only nine players after main players Damian Chong Qui, Ramon Cao, Jenning Leung and import Devondre Perry left during the break.

New import Oscar Lopez, who played as a naturalized player for Cambodia in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games, had 36 points and 13 rebounds for the depleted Macau squad.

Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray has been ruled out of Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals Wednesday night because of a hand injury.

Gray, a four-time All-Star and Atlanta’s leading scorer during the regular season, injured her left hand during the first quarter of Atlanta’s 92-82 Game 1 victory over the New York Liberty. She briefly returned to action after going to the locker room, but went down a second time after diving for a loose ball and did not return.

‘Allisha’s out tomorrow,’ coach Karl Smesko said at his Tuesday media availability. ‘She had an appointment today and is day-to-day after that. She’s had an X-ray on her finger, but I don’t have any more information to give regarding it.’

Wednesday will be the first game Gray has missed this season, but Atlanta got key contributions off the bench to shoulder the scoring burden. DeWanna Bonner scored 23 points in 30 minutes in an expanded role, and is the likely candidate to assume Gray’s spot in the starting lineup. Guard Izzy Borlase, who played 10 minutes off the bench Sunday, could see a potentially expanded role with a thinner guard rotation.

‘We’ll have to see how, kind of, the game goes,’ Smesko said. ‘But Izzy, Tori (Shatori Walker-Kimbrough), Pao (Te-Hina Paopao), they may get some more rotational minutes depending on how the game plays out. How New York handles their rotations as well will be a factor in it.’

Paopao played four minutes off the bench in the series opener, while Walker-Kimbrough has played only one minute in Atlanta’s three postseason games.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected a budget amendment proposed by Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco that would have mandated public disclosure of the chamber’s spending and listing all infrastructure projects allotted to each congressional district.

The proposed amendments, Tiango said, were aimed at strengthening the ‘credibility of the House as an institution by demonstrating that accountability applies equally to everyone.’

The first amendment would have required the House to publish quarterly breakdowns of the chamber’s spending and an annual report of each lawmaker’s expenses on its official website. The second sought to publicize ‘an itemized list’ of all public works projects within congressional districts nationwide.

‘If we demand transparency from the executive, we must be prepared to demonstrate transparency ourselves,’ Tiangco told lawmakers.

The House’s spending plan had repeatedly drawn attention this budget cycle. First, from Tiangco, who pushed the chamber’s allotment to face standard scrutiny alongside executive agencies. A budget watchdog underscored the need to examine the legislature’s budget after it cleared floor debates without questioning in September.

The House was allotted P17.2 billion for next year. And lawmakers lodged an extra P5 billion after the Budget Amendments Review Sub-committee (BARSc) last week, which was adopted by the floor on Wednesday.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing, who heads the House Appropriations Committee, said Tiangco’s request for quarterly publication of House spending ‘falls under the purview of the Commission on Audit,’ leading the floor to reject his motion.

‘The Commission on Audit publishes these reports directly on their official website about the report that was alluded to earlier,’ she said.

‘Because these publications fall under the purview of the Commission on Audit, we are unable to preempt their decision as to whether they will publish it for the upcoming year given that it lies within the prerogative of the commission,’ she added.

Tiangco said the chamber ‘used to do this,’ as he claimed that the last time the House publicized its own spending was in 2020. ‘I don’t know why we stopped doing this.’

The Navotas lawmaker also sought to publicize all Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects within each congressional district, including the projects backed by party-list representatives lodged within a district.

The floor also rejected that request. Suansing explained that DPWH funding adheres to a standardized format, with infrastructure projects already detailed and lodged within district engineering offices responsible for site design and progress validation.

‘As such, it would be difficult for the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) to reclassify the projects according to any other classification apart from that reflected in the National Expenditure Program,’ she said, noting that the agency uses a specific classification format in the spending document.