Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Presiding Office Francis Escudero reminds the prosecution and defense teams on Day 33 of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial to focus on presenting their respective cases based on evidence, justice and fairness, while maintaining respect for one another as the impeachment trial continues.

‘Our duty is not to conquer one another in these proceedings but to illuminate the truth and serve the cause of justice,’ Escudero said.

The No Contact Apprehension Policy (NCAP) returns to five Metro Manila cities on Monday, Oct. 5, restoring camera-based traffic enforcement months after the Supreme Court lifted the temporary restraining order against the system.

The policy will be implemented in Manila, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Quezon City and San Juan.

Valenzuela, which had also announced plans to resume NCAP, deferred its implementation due to ongoing roadworks and changing traffic conditions.

Under NCAP, closed-circuit television, digital cameras and other technology are used to record vehicles suspected of violating traffic rules without requiring traffic enforcers to stop motorists on the road. Violations are reviewed before notices are issued to registered vehicle owners.

Motorists will face standardized fines under the Metro Manila Traffic Code of 2023. They may check their violation records and pay fines through the online portals of participating local government units, while those who believe they were wrongly apprehended may contest the violations through designated online channels.

The Philippine National Police said it was ready to assist local governments in enforcing the policy.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) recorded revenue collections of P757.406 billion from January to September 2026, exceeding its target for the year.

According to the BOC on Sunday, it surpassed its target of P748.494 billion for the year, noting that it is ‘ahead of its collection program with three months remaining in the year.’

Aside from this, the agency said it accumulated P55.735 billion more than in the same period last year, equivalent to a 7.9% increase.

‘The growth underscores that the Bureau’s revenue performance is not based on projections alone, but on actual collections already realized,’ the BOC said.

It also highlighted that its September collection reached P93.339 billion, surpassing its monthly target of P89.184 billion. The agency said this ‘further strengthened the Bureau’s performance.’

The agency missed its monthly target for August, generating P81.4 billion, but this was still P3.9 billion higher than the P77.3 billion collected in the same month last year.

BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said his agency’s P1 trillion revenue collection goal this year is ‘ambitious,’ but its performance ‘shows that we are on the right track.’

‘Let us look at this goal not as a responsibility of a few, but as a shared mission of the entire Bureau,’ he said.

The squishy toy craze has made its way into the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, with Presiding Officer Francis Escudero seen fiddling with one since Sept. 8.

On Monday, Oct. 5, after pounding the gavel, Escudero proceeded to play with his yellow squishy.

These squishies have been gaining traction on social media, with several content creators making ASMR content featuring them.

ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, content refers to videos, audio clips, and live streams that aim to trigger a relaxing, tingling sensation in viewers.

Slow-rising foam squishies and liquid-filled sensory ones come in different shapes and sizes. Some squishies are crunchy or resistant when squeezed.

With different squishies available on the market, children and adults alike collect them as stress relievers.

Police in Carrascal, Surigao del Sur, have launched a deeper investigation into the death of a vocal pro-Duterte vlogger on Sunday morning.

The victim, Philip Morales Engbino, 48, a married native of Minglanilla, Cebu, was also the manager of EZMMI GenCon, a major contractor for Strong Group Mining Corp. (SGMC).

Engbino was driving a company-owned white Dongfeng pickup vehicle when unidentified assailants ambushed and shot him at around 6 a.m.

Maj. Elmar Claret, Carrascal police chief, said the shooting occurred in Barangay Saca, correcting initial online reports that the incident happened along the national highway in Barangay Bacolod,

Company records showed that the pickup truck driven by Engbino left Gate 2 of the SGMC mining facility at 4:35 p.m. on Saturday, October 3, roughly 13 hours before the ambush.

Claret described the incident as an ‘isolated case’ and assured residents that Carrascal remains secure.

‘Our team, along with provincial forensic experts, is working round-the-clock to resolve this case and bring those responsible to justice,’ Claret stated, adding that police visibility, patrols, and checkpoints have been augmented across key areas.

Authorities have urged residents to stay vigilant and avoid traveling alone in remote areas late at night.

Engbino was well known on social media for his staunch political commentary supporting former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Just a day before the shooting, Engbino posted a Cebuano-language vlog slamming former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV over the latter’s exposés against the Duterte family.

The video was widely circulated among Duterte supporters and fellow commentators shortly before his death.

Col. Jeffrey Lawrence Mauricio, Surigao del Sur Police Provincial Office director, appealed for calm and cautioned against drawing any conclusions on the killing of the victim while forensic and criminal investigators are still investigating the case.

Mauricio appealed to the public to refrain from formulating, disseminating, or offering baseless speculations while law enforcement authorities are still establishing the true motive behind the crime.

Fruitas Holdings Inc. has secured a P750-million credit facility from Philippine National Bank (PNB) to open more stores, develop its brand portfolio and explore overseas opportunities.

The homegrown food and beverage chain signed the agreement last Oct. 2 at the PNB Financial Center in Pasay City.

Fruitas director Calvin Chua said domestic expansion remained the priority, although the company was also considering bringing foreign brands into the Philippines and taking its own brands abroad.

‘Of course, what we are focusing on is national expansion, but we have also looked at both inbound and outbound,’ Chua said.

Acquired brands

The company is also exploring new products and retail formats for acquired brands, including Sugarhouse.

Chua cited noodle house Ling Nam, which Fruitas had expanded from restaurants into kiosks, as an example of this approach.

For overseas growth, Chua pointed to markets with large Filipino communities, citing the company’s previous experience in the Middle East.

Fruitas president and CEO Lester Yu said the company had already exported small volumes of Fruitas-branded products to Canada and the United States using the same packaging.

The group now has 15 commissaries nationwide, Yu added.

Asked why Fruitas was pursuing expansion despite rising interest rates and uncertainty facing businesses, Yu pointed to growing revenue and sales volume.

He cited revenue growth of more than 20 percent. He also said volume last week rose 47.7 percent compared with the corresponding week in 2025, based on the company’s weekly monitoring.

The credit facility will support new store openings nationwide, strengthen existing brands and provide flexibility to pursue opportunities outside the Philippines, according to the company.

PNB president and CEO Edwin Bautista said the financing reflected the bank’s confidence in Fruitas’ growth prospects and financial management.

PNB vice chair Lucio Tan III likewise said the bank aimed to help local businesses expand and compete in larger markets.

‘Our role is to give companies like Fruitas the financial runway to grow, helping strong local businesses compete on a bigger stage,’ Tan said.

San Antonio Spurs forward Tobias Harris will miss the preseason and is questionable for the start of the NBA regular season after suffering a strained left calf during training camp.

Harris, who signed as a free agent on July 6, did not participate in the team’s annual intrasquad Silver and Black scrimmage on Sunday.

The 6-foot-8 power forward will be reevaluated following the team’s five-game preseason schedule.

Team officials said Harris is questionable for the regular-season opener against Oklahoma City on Oct. 20 in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals.

Harris signed a two-year contract with San Antonio after spending the past two seasons with Detroit.

He averaged 13.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 27.7 minutes last season to help the Pistons finish atop the Eastern Conference standings.

Former world number one Iga Swiatek staged a comeback to advance to the last 16 at the China Open on Monday, while home hope Zheng Qinwen survived another three-set test in Beijing.

Swiatek overcame frustration to cling on as her opponent served for the set, dominating a must-win tie-break to beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 4-6, 7-6 (7/0), 6-2.

‘I was just angry, wanted to change something, because clearly it wasn’t working,’ the 25-year-old from Poland said on court.

‘Sometimes if you care a bit less because you’re… probably going to lose, it also helps you a bit,’ she later told reporters.

She will face American teenager Iva Jovic for a spot in the quarter-finals.

China’s Zheng was tested by Marie Bouzkova, enduring her third three-setter of the tournament to beat the Czech player 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-5.

Zheng voiced frustration in each set at movement outside the court, including as she tried to salvage the second set on Bouzkova’s serve.

But she pulled out some of her most accurate tennis to clinch the last two games and win the match when 27th-ranked Bouzkova fired long.

‘I gave everything,’ said Zheng, who had already spent more than five hours on court in the first two rounds.

‘Truthfully speaking, I felt a lot of pressure today,’ the 23-year-old told her home crowd, thanking fans for their support but commenting on distractions during play.

‘Sometimes I’m a bit screaming in Chinese, because I really see you guys are moving, but next match I hope I will be better on this,’ she said.

Zheng, the current world number 54, next plays 118th-ranked Alina Charaeva, who sent out top seed Elena Rybakina in the second round.

Coco Gauff, the highest-ranked player left in the women’s draw, was due to play Chinese 16-year-old Sun Xinran later on Monday.

Alex de Minaur was scheduled to play Hubert Hurkacz for the first spot in the men’s final before a blockbuster clash between former world number ones Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev.

Djokovic, 39, beat top seed Alexander Zverev in a three-set thriller on Sunday, extending his unbeaten streak in Beijing to 32 matches.

The national government has resumed distributing educational financial aid to decommissioned Moro rebels and their dependents as part of the implementation of the peace agreement between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

MILF decommissioned combatants (DCs) and their next of kin enrolled in the government’s Educational Assistance Program (EAP) have been receiving their allowances since Oct. 1, according to the GPH-MILF Task Force for Decommissioned Combatants and their Communities (TFDCC).

Of the 1,028 approved grantees in the program’s first batch, 303 have already received their full P50,000 grant, which covers tuition, books, allowances and other academic expenses for one academic year, or two semesters.

The EAP for former MILF combatants and their dependents was temporarily delayed – not stopped permanently – because of administrative and banking problems in releasing the funds.

In a statement Sunday, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) said the remaining 725 grantees will receive their full P50,000 grant in two equal tranches of P25,000.

The TFDCC explained that initial transfers were reverted to Mindanao State University-Marawi for reprocessing after beneficiaries’ LANDBANK PISO accounts exceeded the allowable monthly credit limit of P50,000.

MSU-Marawi is reprocessing the first P25,000 tranche for crediting to the beneficiaries’ accounts. The second tranche of P25,000 will follow once the first tranche has been cleared.

Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento, presidential peace adviser and concurrent chairperson of the GPH Peace Implementing Panel, said his office and the TFDCC are reviewing beneficiary account mechanisms to prevent similar banking bottlenecks in future distribution cycles.

Launched in 2024, the EAP has provided financial aid to support the formal education of decommissioned MILF combatants and their dependents as part of the socioeconomic component of the Normalization Track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

Under the Normalization Track, former MILF combatants and their families are being provided with various socioeconomic assistance programs to help them transition to peaceful and productive civilian life.

Sarmiento assured the remaining grantees that they will receive the assistance owed to them.

Traffic flow along six roads in Barangay Rosario, Pasig City, will be affected starting 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7, as the city holds its Araw ng Barangay Rosario procession, according to a traffic advisory from the Pasig City Public Information Office.

The affected roads are Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue, Bernal Street, Doña Juana Subdivision, C. Raymundo Avenue, Westbank Road, and Ortigas Avenue.

In its advisory posted online Monday, the city government said the traffic adjustments would begin at 5 p.m. and continue ‘onwards’ on Oct. 7.

Motorists were advised to take alternate routes, particularly C. Raymundo Avenue and the Ortigas Avenue Extension, during the activity.