Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

FPJ Panday Bayanihan Party-List Rep. Brian Poe questioned on Monday the National Bureau of Investigation’s lack of funding for agents or attachés stationed abroad as he called for stronger support for the bureau as it tackles an increasing number of transnational crimes involving Filipinos.

Under Republic Act No. 10687, specifically Section 7(F), the NBI is authorized to designate attachés or representatives in Philippine embassies abroad, Poe pointed out at the House Committee on Appropriations budget briefing for the Department of Justice (DOJ).

He noted, however, that the law requires the funding for such positions to come from the NBI’s own budget,

Asked whether an allocation for this purpose was included in the current year’s budget, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said there was none.

According to Matibag, the NBI has been hoping to address the lack of funding for overseas NBI representatives, as it considers the possibility of deploying attachés to selected areas abroad to work with foreign counterparts in tackling transnational crimes.

He noted that embassies from Europe and the United States already have counterparts in the Philippines who have assisted the NBI in pursuing cases that cross national borders.

Matibag welcomed Poe’s intervention, saying he hoped funding for NBI attachés could eventually be included in the bureau’s ‘wish list.’

More agents needed

But the NBI chief also underscored another pressing problem: The bureau needs more agents as it only has around 300 agents nationwide.

If the NBI wanted to deploy agents abroad, it would need to hire more.

‘This is quite alarming,’ Poe said, as he noted that the NBI has not ‘a single centavo’ of funding for even a single international representative to be attached to Philippine embassies abroad despite the growing number of cases with international links.

Poe cited the wide range of responsibilities now being handled by the NBI, including investigations involving the following:

Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs

scam networks

cyber fraud

online gambling

Interpol-related cases

human trafficking

online child sexual abuse or exploitation materials

‘The list goes on,’ Poe said, adding that Congress should seriously consider the issue during Congress deliberations on the proposed DOJ budget.

Accountability and law enforcement

Poe also linked the lack of overseas NBI representation to the broader issue of accountability and law enforcement, particularly in pursuing suspects and fugitives outside Philippine jurisdiction.

The government, he said, must ask how it could effectively go after international fugitives when the NBI has no dedicated funding for representatives abroad.

The proposed expansion of the NBI’s personnel and the possible deployment of attachés overseas could strengthen the Philippines’ ability to coordinate with foreign law enforcement agencies, share intelligence, follow cross-border criminal networks, and pursue cases that do not stop at the country’s borders.

Ensuring that the NBI has enough agents, eventually including representatives in key locations abroad, is not merely a matter of expanding the bureau, he said. It’s necessary to enable it to pursue criminals abroad.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is still reviewing the request the United States government to extradite sect leader and alleged sex offender Apollo Quiboloy, Palace press officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday.

Castro last August 11 said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. would decide on Quiboloy’s fate ‘in a couple of weeks.’

As of posting time, however, she said the DOJ is still assessing the extradition request.

‘Sa ngayon ang DOJ ay kasalukuyan pa pong binubusisi, inaaral, ina-asses ang bulto-bultong dokumento na naipasa sa kanila, at hindi pa po sila halos dahil sa napakaraming dapat pag-aaralan,’ she said at a Palace briefing.

(For now, the DOJ is still scrutinizing, studying, and assessing the large volume of documents submitted to them, and they have barely made progress because there is so much that needs to be reviewed.)

Among the issues the DOJ is looking into is whether the principle of double criminality applies or whether the charges Quiboloy will face in the US are also considered offenses punishable under Philippine law.

‘So, hintayin po natin kung ito ay… kung kailan matatapos, pero alam nila na ito ay agaran na dapat magkaroon ng desisyon. So, medyo makapal lang daw po at bulto ang mga dokumentong kanilang binabasa sa ngayon,’ Castro said.

(So, let’s wait and see when they will finish, but they know that a decision needs to be made urgently. It’s just that, according to them, the documents they are reviewing at the moment are quite voluminous.)

The DOJ previously said the matter would be ‘given priority’ and carefully scrutinized to make sure the circumstances in Quiboloy’s criminal cases pending in two local courts are factored in.

Quiboloy faces qualified human trafficking charges at the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) and a separate case for sexual abuse and maltreatment before the Quezon City RTC

In a bid to enhance campus security, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday, Aug. 25, presented a campus security guard and mobile patrol strategy for public schools nationwide.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara has presented a hybrid campus security model that seeks to enhance surveillance despite the shortages in security guards in public schools in the country through a strategic patrolling assignment based on ‘campus size and needs.’

The initiative is in partnership with the local government units and the Philippine National Police, under the Department of Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular No. 2026-037 on Safer School Zones.

‘Under the proposed framework, DepEd will prioritize assigning security guards to high-density campuses while leveraging community support for smaller schools,’ the DepEd said in a statement.

Based on the proposed model, during arrival and dismissal hours, campuses with less than 500 students and 1,000 students are provided one security guard supported by local barangay watchmen and volunteers from the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) assistance team.

Meanwhile, campuses classified as large with 3,300 learners are assigned two security guards, also assisted by the barangay tanod and the PTA volunteers.

Campuses with more than 8,000 learners are proposed to be allocated four security guards, alongside Philippine National Police mobile patrols and local security officers.

The barangay tanods are assigned to be the first line of defense for perimeter controls in campuses, while the PTA assistance teams will assist in crowd and traffic control, according to the DepEd.

‘Through our hybrid security model, we partner with our communities and other stakeholders to ensure a safe and orderly environment for every school,’ Angara said.

The move comes amid mounting concerns on campus security following the shooting incident at a private school in Zamboanga involving a junior high school student, who was able to bring a firearm inside the premises.

The agency said it is set to conduct two phases, starting with schools classified with large populations, before proceeding in small and medium schools.

‘To reinforce physical security without relying on additional manpower, the Department is also prioritizing investments in surveillance infrastructure including closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, upgraded area lighting, access control systems and scanners,’ it added. /

Thirteen towns in Zambales suspended face-to-face classes at all levels on Tuesday as the southwest monsoon continued to bring rain across the province.

The towns of Subic, Castillejos, San Antonio, Cabangan, Botolan, and Masinloc suspended classes at all levels in both public and private schools

Other towns – San Marcelino, San Narciso, San Felipe, Iba, Palauig, Candelaria and Santa Cruz – also suspended classes but will shift to alternative learning protocols like online or modular learning, to allow students to continue their education while face-to-face classes are suspended.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), in its 4 a.m. forecast on Tuesday, said Zambales could receive 50 to 100 millimeters of rain from Monday to Thursday noon (Aug. 27).

Meanwhile, Typhoon Saudel, formerly known as ‘Obet,’ was outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) as of 3 a.m. Tuesday, with maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h and gustiness of up to 185 km/h. Another tropical cyclone, Tropical Depression Atsani, was being monitored outside the PAR

A 20-year-old man went missing after he was reportedly swept away by a strong current while crossing a river in Barangay Burgos here on Tuesday.

According to an initial report from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Jasper Rosales, a resident of Sitio Dinuron in Barangay Burgos, waded through the Pamatawan River in Sitio Maligaya at around 11 a.m. with his 32-year-old cousin, Darwin Milo, to gather vegetables when they were caught in the strong river current.

Milo survived, while Rosales remains missing, the report said.

The Coast Guard Sub-Station (CGSS) San Antonio and personnel from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) of San Antonio are conducting search-and-rescue operations for Rosales as of Tuesday afternoon

The principal of a public high school in Masbate province has apologized for his derogatory remarks online against Akbayan Representatives Chel Diokno and Percival Cendaña, and lawyer Jesus Falcis.

In his earlier posts on a now-deactivated Facebook account, Randy Emmanuel Villar Bulanon, the principal of Dimasalang National High School, made disparaging remarks about Falcis’ sexuality and ridiculed the physical appearances of Diokno and Cendaña, a stroke survivor.

On Monday, Bulanon issued an apology through the school’s Facebook page to Falcis, Diokno and Cendaña and several other individuals and groups, saying he should have ‘exercised greater prudence, restraint, and discernment’ in his social media posts, ‘especially considering my responsibilities as a school principal.’

Bulanon also apologized to the Department of Education (DepEd), the school community and stakeholders. ‘As a school head, I fully recognized that my words, actions and social media activities may be perceived as reflective not only of myself as an individual but also of the position and institution I represent,’ he said.

According to him, he was ready to face ‘whatever appropriate consequences may be imposed in accordance with existing laws, rules, policies and procedures of the Department of Education.’

In a statement, the DepEd Masbate School Division Office said the ‘matter is being properly addressed in accordance with due process, fairness and accountability

Internal Revenue Commissioner Charlito Martin R. Mendoza and Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa are spearheading discussions to align the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Electronic Documentary Stamp Tax (eDST) system with the Supreme Court’s Electronic Notarization (eNotarization) facilities.

During their Aug. 11 meeting, Mendoza and Caguioa led BIR and SC representatives in discussing how the documentary stamp tax (DST) can be paid and affixed electronically, allowing electronically notarized documents to remain digital from end to end.

In a statement on Monday, Mendoza said the meeting aimed to address the paper-based DST affixation requirement, which the BIR and the SC had identified during their Feb. 27 discussions as the remaining paper-based step in an otherwise electronic notarization process.

‘If a document can be executed, signed, notarized, and verified electronically, it should not have to go back to paper just to comply with the documentary stamp tax. That is why we are working with the Supreme Court to remove this remaining paper-based step and make the entire process seamless and more verifiable,’ Mendoza said.

This reform builds on the SC’s Rules on Electronic Notarization, approved on February 4, 2025, and the BIR’s Revenue Regulations No. 28-2025, issued on Dec. 22, 2025, which implemented the enhanced eDST system and mandated its use by covered taxpayers, including notaries public.

Mendoza said the initiative supports the Digital and Data Transformation and Service Excellence and Stakeholder Engagement pillars of BIR DARES, while helping modernize notarization-a core process in many business and private transactions-and supporting the government’s broader ease-of-doing-business agenda.

‘We are redesigning processes so government systems work together and transactions become simpler, faster, and easier to verify. This cooperation with the Supreme Court shows how inter-agency coordination can produce practical and lasting reforms that make it easier and safer for people and businesses to transact,’ he added.

A court in Isabela City, Basilan province has temporarily stopped law enforcement agencies from enforcing the arrest warrants against a lady town mayor and her co-accused.

This situation stays until the resolution on their motions before the court is issued.

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 2 in Isabela City issued the order Monday after the accused, through their legal counsel, filed a very urgent motion for reinvestigation and to recall the warrant of arrest.

On Aug. 20, the RTC Branch 2 issued warrants of arrest for murder, frustrated murder and attempted murder against Hadji Muhtamad Mayor Arsina Kahing Nanoh and her co-accused – Nadz Nanoh, Walihul Allama, Hadji Rahim Kahim, Lucman Kaling, Tudy Bayro, Sing Hassan, Arsina Kahing Nanoh, and seven John Does.

In a statement Tuesday, lawyer Quirino Esguerra Jr., legal counsel for the accused, said they have asked the court to dismiss the cases for alleged lack of probable cause or to remand them to the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor for further investigation.

Esguerra said the court has scheduled the hearing on their motion at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 4.

‘The court likewise ordered the prosecution to file its comment or opposition within 10 days from receipt of the order,’ he said in a statement.

The criminal cases against Nanoh and her co-accused stemmed from the May 12, 2025 attack near Barangay Sangbay Big, Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan.

This incident resulted in the deaths of Ben Bakil, Murasidol Abdurahman and Samir Jamiri Allil and in the wounding of several others.

Abdurahman was a poll watcher at the May 12 midterm elections, while Bakil and Allil were supporters of former Hadji Muhtamad Mayor Jamar Mansul, who was then running for mayor against Nanoh.

Esguerra noted that the Aug. 24 court order temporarily halting the implementation of the arrest warrants does not dismiss the cases or permanently recall the warrants.

‘It just temporarily prevents their enforcement while the court considers and resolves the defendants’ motions,’ he said

Life insurance companies in the Philippines saw their premium collections jump nearly 18 percent in the first six months of the year as the industry continued to expand across key financial indicators.

Latest data from the Insurance Commission (IC) showed total premiums rose 17.91 percent to P229.98 billion from January to June, from P195.05 billion in the same period last year.

Benefit payments, however, grew at a faster pace, climbing 19.57 percent to P69.21 billion from P57.88 billion a year earlier.

Still, the industry posted higher profits during the period, with net income rising 3.42 percent to P21.42 billion from P20.72 billion last year.

‘These figures indicate the continued stability and resilience of the life insurance industry,’ the IC said in a statement on Monday.

‘Despite the financial challenges encountered earlier this year, the industry demonstrated its capacity to withstand financial shocks while continuing to meet its obligations to policyholders and beneficiaries,’ it added.

Variable life products accounted for the bulk of premium collections, generating P150.03 billion during the first half, up 14.8 percent from P130.69 billion a year earlier.

Variable life insurance products generally combine life insurance coverage with an investment component, with the policyholder’s premiums partly allocated to investment funds.

Of the premiums collected from variable life products, P10.3 billion came from first-year premiums, P87.3 billion from single premiums and P52.4 billion from renewal premiums.

Traditional life insurance products, which provide life coverage without an investment-linked component, also recorded stronger collections during the period.

Malacañang on Tuesday said the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) could ‘fairly’ investigate a confrontation between their personnel, while warning that those found to have abused their authority could be removed from their posts.

‘The president has confidence in both agencies, the PNP and the BOC, that they can properly and fairly investigate what happened between the two agencies,’ Palace press officer Claire Castro said.

While an investigation is ongoing, the two agencies committed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that they would not allow undesirable personnel to remain on either side.

‘If there was indeed alleged abuse, then those involved must be held accountable,’ she said.

She warned that personnel found to have committed violations could be removed from their positions.

The PNP-Highway Patrol Group (HPG) relieved and reassigned the head of its Regional Highway Patrol Unit-National Capital Region (RHPU-NCR) and 12 of his men over an alleged confrontation with BOC-Port of Subic agents at a warehouse in Sta. Maria, Bulacan on Aug. 19.

Armed civilian-clothed HPG operatives swooped down on the Bulacan warehouse, frisked and handcuffed BOC personnel. The standoff was eventually defused following the intervention of BOC officials.

The HPG officers claimed that they were conducting a raid on the warehouse where 225 boxes of illicit Carnival Red cigarettes worth an estimated P8.4 million were seized. They claimed a BOC personnel allegedly opened the warehouse and collected payment during the transaction.

The BOC personnel, however, alleged they were conducting a legitimate ‘incineration’ operation.

It was later discovered that the raid stemmed from operational confusion, as the HPG operatives were actually targeting a different location within the area.

According to Castro, PNP chief General Jose Melencio Nartatez said the ongoing investigation would look into why HPG officers from the NCR conducted the operation in Bulacan, instead of the local police unit or the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

The investigation will also determine whether the HPG had the proper mandate to conduct the alleged buy-bust operation, considering that its primary functions include traffic enforcement, security and anti-carnapping operations.

But the PNP said there might be specific instances when HPG personnel could pursue an operation involving suspected contraband if it originated from a highway and was being tracked by police.

In a statement on Tuesday, the BOC backed its personnel involved in a confrontation with the PNP-HPG, while calling the incident isolated and urging stronger coordination between the two agencies.

BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said Customs personnel ‘must be accorded due respect, professionalism, and proper treatment at all times, consistent with established inter-agency protocols.’

‘The BOC and PNP have a proven record of successful joint operations that have resulted in the apprehension and seizure of billions of pesos worth of smuggled and illicit goods. This longstanding cooperation must be preserved and strengthened,’ the BOC added.

Nepomuceno directed officials to use the incident to strengthen interagency coordination and improve operational protocols to prevent similar confrontations.