Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Performing the iconic songs of National Artist Ryan Cayabyab comes with pressure, but for the artists joining the ‘Unang Siklab LIYAB: Mga Himig ng Dakilang Pag-ibig’ concert, his music also gives them the freedom to put their own interpretation into the songs.

Martin Nievera admitted that he feels the fear of performing Cayabyab’s compositions, especially with a lineup that includes some of the country’s acclaimed singers.

‘It’s all fear. After hearing all of these hungry choirs, there’s Gigi, Jed and Bituin, the songs of Ryan Cayabyab, you really have to step up your game,’ Nievera said during the concert’s press conference in Manila on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Nievera said the challenge is not simply singing Cayabyab’s songs but telling stories while staying faithful to the composer’s arrangements.

‘The most important thing is the way we tell the story,’ Nievera said. ‘I think Mr. C. wrote it in a way, there’s a way of telling the story that won’t clash with the arrangement. They have to be one in the same. They have to somehow jive together.’

‘The nice thing about it is Mr. C. has a very polite way of saying, just do it your way. In other words, you’ll never compare. Just do it your way,’ he added.

Jed Madela shared a similar sentiment, acknowledging that being handed a Cayabyab composition can initially bring pressure.

‘But once you’ve worked with him many times, he puts you in a place na hindi ka mapepressure,’ he said.

‘I think that’s also the beauty of his songs, na anybody can sing the song with a different flavor. It depends on how it attaches to you. It depends on how you relate to the song,’ he added.

Bituin Escalante, meanwhile, said that the beauty of Cayabyab’s compositions is that they can be interpreted by different artists without the need to compete with previous versions.

‘The way Mr. C writes songs, it’s so easy to make them your own. So it’s never like, I wanna top this version, no. He’s written them in such a way that when you sing it, it’s yours,’ she said.

‘There is no fear in singing Ryan Cayabyab’s song because it’s just so beautifully written,’ Escalante added.

Gigi de Lana said she immediately accepted the invitation, partly because she wanted to work with Cayabyab again after their first collaboration eight years ago.

‘After eight years, I was very, very happy, excited, nervous, and yeah, I felt fear,’ she said. ‘Because Mr. C.’s song is not just music or music for my ears, it’s putting soul in it.’

‘Unang Siklab LIYAB: Mga Himig ng Dakilang Pag-ibig,’ which will be held on Sept. 20 at The Theatre at Solaire, will celebrate the timeless compositions of Cayabyab.

The concert will feature Cayabyab and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, with conductors Jonathan Velasco and Toma Cayabyab. Aside from Nievera, Madela, Escalante and de Lana, Lea Salonga, Ogie Alcasid, Sofronio Vasquez and Arman Ferrer are also set to perform.

They will be joined by the 200-member LIYAB Grand Chorale, composed of the Ateneo Chamber Singers, Imuscapella, Konsertus, Mass Appeal, Novo Concertante, PCSO Chorale, UP Concert Chorus and UP Manila Chorale.

Portions of the concert proceeds will benefit the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Medical Foundation, the UP-PH Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines International Scholarship Fund.

A lawmaker has sounded the alarm about illegal drug dealers being able to reach young people through social media by using emojis as codes for the products being sold.

In a statement on Tuesday, Las Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos said that authorities have found evidence of drug-related activities online, particularly on messaging platforms, where buyers and sellers use certain emojis-particularly icons deemed by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency as signs for drugs like methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana.

A code cheat sheet sent by Santos’ office showed that some illegal drugs are represented by usual signs like mushrooms for mushrooms; trees, fire, clouds, and clover leaves for marijuana; cocaine with snow, diamonds, or a snowman; to the more uncommon ones, meth with a diamond emoji or a blue heart; and heroin with a brown heart.

‘Technically, all social media platforms prohibit the sale of drugs, but teens know how to find a drug dealer on social media. Drug enforcement units have found evidence that drug activity is rampant across major platforms, particularly Messenger and Viber in the Philippines,’ Santos said.

‘Social media has made it possible for drug dealers to operate in plain sight. They can use coded words, images, emojis, and seemingly harmless posts to advertise illegal drugs while trying to evade the platforms’ detection systems,’ he added.

According to the lawmaker, some social media sites have become a recruitment hub for online drug trafficking, as experienced users are supposedly able to locate dealers through seemingly ordinary posts and interactions.

Furthermore, Santos said that cybersecurity experts have also reported that popular online games and social media platforms are also being tapped as recruitment grounds for another purpose-to engage in nihilistic violent extremist (NVE) behavior or senseless violence.

NVE is being looked at as an angle in the recent shooting incidents in Tacloban City and Zamboanga.

Such activities, Santos said, only stress the need for social media restrictions.

‘Criminals are adapting faster than we are. They are learning how to use the same platforms where our young people spend much of their time,’ he noted.

Last August, Santos threw his support for proposals seeking to restrict social media use for children aged 14 and below, amid fears that the internet is being used by drug syndicates to recruit young people and even engage in drug trade.

Santos said he backs the proposal that would ban children from accessing social media-which was also supported by Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

Remulla, during the hearing of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations on the proposed 2027 budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), said that he agrees with the ban.

Just recently, the Senate committee on public information and mass media endorsed a bill seeking to set 16 years old as the minimum age for social media use.

Both moves came amid fears that unrestricted social media use may have led students behind the school shooting incidents at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City last June 22 and the Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City last August 18 to do these actions.

Three students were killed during the Tacloban shooting, while two, including the gunman, were confirmed dead after the incident at Ateneo de Zamboanga University.

There is a belief that the perpetrators in both incidents were supposedly exposed to violent content online.

But Santos said that aside from violent content, the Philippines and other countries have faced problems regarding young children being recruited toward scrupulous activities, including drug trade.

The North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) Corporation has been directed by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) to explain the flooding that occurred at Tulaoc Bridge near San Simon town in Pampanga that caused heavy traffic in the past few days.

In a letter shared by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday, the TRB wrote to NLEx Corporation on August 31 directing the firm to submit within three days a detailed explanation for the flooding situation, as well as its proposed measures to mitigate the flooding in San Simon and Tulaoc, Pampanga ‘to further avoid its recurrence.’

Due to the heavy rainfall brought by the southwest monsoon last weekend, motorists were stuck along that portion of the expressway. Many of them spent longer hours on the road than their usual travel time.

In a separate letter, the TRB instructed NLEx Corporation to consider reimbursing the toll fees of Class 1 vehicles that were ‘compelled to make a U-turn due to the flooding incidents in the affected area.’

The TRB also said it expects the corporation to alert motorists three hours before the expected rainfall through Variable Message Signs (VMS), portable VMS, and other messaging platforms that the San Simon-Pulillan Segment of NLEx will be closed to traffic if the water level reaches critical level due to heavy rainfall.

‘During such circumstances, NLEX Corporation is likewise directed to closely coordinate with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and TRB, to jointly ensure the timely implementation of appropriate flood mitigation measures and other necessary interventions, with the primary objective of ensuring the safety of the motoring public and minimizing traffic disruption,’ the TRB wrote.

Last Monday, the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, the operator of NLEx, apologized to motorists for inconveniences due to flooding and vowed to install concrete barriers in affected areas along the expressway

The national government will allocate P300 million for the rehabilitation of two bridges that partially collapsed due to strong river currents and continuous heavy rains, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday.

Marcos made the announcement after inspecting the Agana and Aquino bridges in Tarlac City.

In a statement, Marcos said the Agana bridge could reopen to pedestrians within one week and to light vehicles weighing 10 tons or less within two weeks.

‘We will be giving P300 million to the local government dahil ito ay local bridge. Kaya sila kailangan ng magkatrabaho dito. Siyempre tutulungan natin, tutulungan sa technical aspects that will help them in everything, every way that we can,’ Marcos said.

(We will be giving P300 million to the local government because this is a local bridge. They will be responsible for carrying out the necessary work here. Of course, we will assist them, particularly with the technical aspects, and help them in every way that we can.)

‘And of course, local government and national government magtutulungan para maging mas mabilis. Like I say, I hope in two weeks, they assure me that in two weeks there will already be light traffic allowed across Agana Bridge,’ he added.

(And of course, the local government and the national government will work together to expedite the repairs. As I said, I hope that within two weeks, they have assured me that light traffic will already be allowed to cross Agana Bridge.)

Marcos noted that the volume of water brought by the recent rains was unprecedented, contributing to the bridge’s collapse.

He said the government would continue to adjust to better protect infrastructure from the effects of climate change.

‘This bridge has been standing since just after the war. So 70 years old na ito. Sa buong karanasan ng Pilipinas ngayon lang tayo nakatikim ng ganitong klaseng ulan, ganitong klaseng pagbaha dahil nagbabago ang panahon dahil sa climate change,’ he said.

(This bridge has been standing since just after the war, so it is around 70 years old. In the entire experience of the Philippines, this is the first time we have experienced this kind of rainfall and flooding, as the climate continues to change due to climate change.)

The Agana Bridge partially collapsed at around 7:40 p.m. on August 29 due to strong and surging floodwaters from the Tarlac River.

It gave way just a day after the nearby Aquino Bridge also collapsed, forcing motorists to take the Agana Bridge as an alternative route.

The Department of Education (DepEd) will no longer be conducting ‘reenactments’ for the nationwide simultaneous school safety drill this Thursday.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel on Wednesday, DepEd governance and operations Undersecretary Malcolm Garma explained that the drill had been postponed on August 25, due to inclement weather and concerns from medical groups regarding children’s emotional safety.

‘Wala nang reenactment na mayroong active shooter or active attacker because, according to the experts, this might cause psychological trauma sa ating mga participant learners and including the teachers,’ Garma said in an interview after the forum.

(There will no longer be reenactments involving an active shooter or active attacker because, according to experts, these may cause psychological trauma to participating learners and teachers.)

‘What will trigger the drill are the alarms, yung distinct alarm na, once mag-sound yun, that will signal the commencement of the drills,’ he added.

(What will trigger the drill are the alarms, the distinct alarms that, once they sound, will signal the commencement of the drills.)

The DepEd undersecretary added that the postponement of the nationwide drill also allowed the agency to include measures to strengthen post-incident response efforts and to integrate the ‘run-hide-fight’ protocol.

The ‘run-hide-fight’ protocol is a procedure in which individuals in an active shooter situation should first evacuate if able as a first response; or hide silently as a secondary measure; or directly confront the perpetrator as a last resort.

‘There will be a reunification component,’ Garma added.

‘Nasa isang lugar lang isa at doon rerespondehan yung mga nasugatan at doon susunduin ng mga magulang yung kani-kanilang mga anak,’ he further explained.

(Responders will have one place where all the wounded will be tended to and where all the parents will fetch their children.)

He added that another new measure in the drill would be to seek the consent of parents to allow their children to participate, citing that schools were currently in the end-of-term block for the first trimester.

‘We will not be able to force them to make their children join,’ he said. ‘But, of course, we would like to encourage our parents to make their children join.’

The nationwide drill will be kicked off at a school in Bulacan province on Thursday morning, according to Garma, noting that other schools-particularly those affected by flooding amid inclement weather-may choose to hold the drills at another time.

The drill was instituted by the DepEd in coordination with the Philippine National Police, local government units and other partner agencies in the wake of the fatal school shootings in Tacloban City last June 22 and Zamboanga City last August 18.

‘This will not be the first and the last,’ Garma said. ‘We have to perfect that drill. It’s really for muscle memory.’

‘Nagpa-pay off na yung earthquake drills natin. Alam na ng mga bata yung gagawin. Duck, cover and hold. We hope that these drills to address human-induced incidents like this would also be part of the muscle memory of our learners,’ he added.

(Our earthquake drills are paying off. Our children already know what to do, the duck-cover-and-hold. We hope that these drills to address human-induced incidents like this would also be part of the muscle memory of our learners.)

Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) is moving forward with plans to spin off its international business, with the homegrown fast-food giant now eyeing a separate listing in Hong Kong as it builds a standalone company focused on its overseas expansion.

In a stock exchange filing on Tuesday, JFC said it was considering listing the shares of Jollibee Foods Corp. International (JFCI) on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEX).

JFCI will hold the group’s current international business.

The development follows JFC’s announcement in January that it planned to separate its international and Philippine businesses.

Since then, the company has worked on the transaction structure, governance, financing, systems and organization needed for the two businesses to operate independently.

JFC said Hong Kong was best suited to the international unit’s geographic footprint and investment profile, given its existing presence and brand recognition across Asia.

HKEX would also give JFCI access to global and regional investors as the company pursues further expansion beyond Asia, including North America.

Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at investment bank China Bank Capital Corp., agreed that Hong Kong was a better listing venue for JFCI, particularly as the company seeks to broaden its investor base.

‘HKEX is a convenient market for Asian companies that aim to attract both regional and global investors,’ Colet said.

He added that JFCI’s consumer expansion story could appeal to the ‘deep pool of fund managers and investors’ active in Hong Kong’s $6-trillion equity market.

The separation is intended to create two independently listed companies with distinct strategies and investment profiles, allowing each to pursue its own growth opportunities.

JFC also named Richard Chong Woo Shin as JFCI’s CEO. Shin currently serves as JFC’s chief financial and risk officer and CEO of JFC International.

JFC chair Tony Tan Caktiong said the preparations had strengthened the group’s conviction in pursuing the listing.

‘That work has reinforced our conviction in the listing and has led us to conclude that Hong Kong is the market best aligned with JFCI’s business, geographic footprint and long-term ambitions,’ Tan Caktiong said.

JFC itself will remain listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange and will retain the group’s Philippine operations and businesses.

JFC stressed that the final terms and timing have yet to be determined and that there is no assurance the transaction will be completed.

Tropical Storm Pilandok slightly decelerated while moving east-northeastward over the Philippine Sea, while the southwest monsoon, or habagat, will continue to prevail over Luzon and Visayas on Wednesday, according to the state weather bureau.

In its 5 a.m. weather forecast, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that weather specialist Chenel Dominguez reported Pilandok was last estimated to be 1,205 kilometers east-northeast of extreme northern Luzon as of 4 a.m.

It slightly decelerated as it moved east-northeastward at 10 kilometers per hour (kph), compared with its previous speed of 15 kph. It maintained its strength, with maximum sustained winds of 65 kph and gustiness of up to 80 kph.

Dominguez maintained Pagasa’s earlier forecast that Pilandok will not directly affect the country as it continues to be far from our landmass. Meanwhile, she said that the habagat will bring concentrated rains over the western section of the country.

She added that while Metro Manila and nearby areas may experience fair weather conditions, isolated rainshowers and localized thunderstorms are still possible in the afternoon and evening.

Hot and humid conditions with chances of localized thunderstorms are expected over Visayas and Mindanao.

She also shared that the habagat will bring strong to gale-force gusts over these areas:

From Wednesday until Thursday (September 3): Most of Luzon and Visayas, Zamboanga del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Camiguin, Dinagat Islands, Davao Occidental, and Davao Oriental

Weather disturbances outside the PAR

Meanwhile, Dominguez shared that two weather disturbances are being monitored outside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR).

Tropical Storm Saudel, formerly called Obet, was last located 560 kilometers west of Itbayat, Batanes. Dominguez said that it currently has no direct effect in the country and has a low chance of re-entering the PAR.

On the other hand, the low pressure area spotted 2,935 kilometers east of Central Luzon is unlikely to develop into a tropical depression.

The government could lose an estimated P10 billion annually from the planned removal of the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on electricity system loss charges, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event, Finance Secretary Frederick Go confirmed the estimated revenue loss, saying the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is still awaiting the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) policy decision before processing the matter.

System losses refer to electricity that is generated but lost during transmission and distribution, with the cost recovered by power firms from consumers through the system loss charge.

In Resolution No. 26 published on Aug. 28, the ERC declared the system loss charge a government-mandated pass-through cost that would no longer form part of the gross sales of generation companies, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and distribution utilities. The resolution will take effect once the BIR issues the necessary confirmation.

Distribution utilities will then have 60 days to modify their billing formats to reflect that the system loss charge is not subject to VAT.

The policy comes over a month after President Marcos, in his State of the Nation Address, called for the removal of system loss charges in electricity bills to ease the financial burden of Filipinos.

Defense lead counsel Sheila Sison reacts to the prosecution’s offer of testimony for lawyer Michael Poa, presented by prosecution counsel Benjamin Tolosa Jr. before the impeachment court.

Sison says the prosecution’s 13-point offer of testimony ‘sounds like rhetoric aimed at providing drama’ in the impeachment trial.

Poa served as the Department of Education chief of staff from 2022 to 2024.

The decision of House lawmakers not to subject to scrutiny the proposed 2027 budget of the Office of the President (OP) may have violated the checks and balances enshrined in the 1987 Constitution, according to a budget watchdog.

On Tuesday, the House appropriations committee voted 37-5 to swiftly end debate on the P10.1-billion proposed budget of the OP, citing parliamentary courtesy. The 2027 budget is 63.9-percent lower than this year’s P28.1 billion.

‘The traditional practice of ‘courtesy’ to executive agencies afforded to the President … violates the checks and balances designed by the Constitution,’ Kenneth Abante, coconvener of watchdog People’s Budget Coalition, told the Inquirer in a text message.

He described the practice as ‘worrying.’

‘There are also red flags in the Office of the President’s budget that need to be scrutinized. At the very least, it should be debated so it can be discussed,’ Abante said. ‘After all, it is still the people’s money being used, and it deserves the same scrutiny.’

Some programs flagged by budget watchdogs include confidential and intelligence funds allotted to the OP and funding for the government’s anticommunist task force, alongside its direct oversight authority over a support fund for local units, according to Tim Salomon of the Caucus of Development Non-Government Organizations Network.

Lawmakers have traditionally refrained from scrutinizing the OP’s budget, invoking the long-standing parliamentary courtesy extended to a sitting President.

Opposition lawmakers, however, protested the House appropriation committee’s move.

‘Public funds are not personally owned by Malacañang and we do not want to continue the broken tradition of extending parliamentary courtesy [to] the Office of the President,’ Kabataan Rep. Renee Co told lawmakers in a manifestation after she voted against terminating the OP’s budget hearing.

‘The power of the purse is held by the legislature … and it should not be surrendered to the executive,’ Co said.

Secret funds

Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio also questioned why half of the President’s proposed budget next year falls under secret funds, stressing that transparency should be applied across all agencies.

Of the P10.1 billion, around P4.56 billion is earmarked for spending beyond traditional scrutiny.

Confidential and intelligence funds finance surveillance and intelligence information gathering activities, according to a 2015 joint circular between the Commission on Audit (COA) and several agencies.

Tinio said the OP should explain its allotments meant for secret expenses, especially amid the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, who is accused of misusing confidential funds.

‘If [Duterte’s] P612.5 million in confidential funds is under scrutiny … why is the Office of the President not explaining why its confidential and intelligence funds are that big?’ he asked, adding: ‘We need a fair application of the principle of transparency.’

Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, however, said that President Marcos has the right to hold secret funds as the nation’s chief executive.

He also noted that the COA had rendered an unmodified opinion on OP finances, which he described as ‘the highest opinion ever for all government agencies.’

‘The President is the chief executive officer. The President is the head of state, so his first job is to ensure law and order and that is where confidential funds are being used,’ Recto told reporters.