Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Acting Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. urged all other suspects allegedly involved in a ‘ghost’ Davao Occidental flood control project to follow the surrender of government contractor Sarah Discaya.

Discaya surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday, hours after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said she and several others may soon face an arrest warrant for graft and malversation in connection with the project.

‘The Philippine National Police welcomes her (Discaya) decision and it is actually a good decision that people in her situation should emulate,’ Nartatez said in a statement Wednesday.

‘Hiding will not get you anywhere because no matter how long you are able to hide, the fact remains that you are still wanted and could be arrested anytime,’ he added.

Ma. Roma Angeline Rimando, president of the Discaya-owned St. Timothy Construction Corporation, also surrendered to the Pasig City Police Station on Monday, according to her legal counsel Atty. Cornelio Samaniego.

Moreover, according to Marcos, eight Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials will also surrender in connection with the Davao Occidental case.

Meanwhile, in the case of another allegedly anomalous P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro, authorities already took nine of 16 accused into custody, while seven more were still at large – including former House appropriations chair and resigned Rep. Zaldy Co. /mr

The Jollibee Group together with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) welcomed over 100 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to the 2nd run of the Joy in Learning: MSME Meet and Learn session last July 2, 2025.

These MSMEs hold the power to grow, thrive, and take their place in value chains that uplift lives and strengthen communities. Through shared insights and mentorship, the event aims to support and walk alongside them on that journey. DTI Secretary Cristina Roque and Undersecretary Blesila Lantayona were among the keynote speakers of the mentoring session.

Assistant Vice President and Head of Global Procurement Services, Bryan Tividad, discussed doing business with the Jollibee Group, and Chowking’s Vice President and Head of Marketing, Jia Du, shared insights on customer focus as a core value.

Jollibee Group Foundation’s Director for Strategy, Impact, and Organization Effectiveness Joanna La’O gave the participants an overview of the foundation’s experience in linking smallholder farmers to the company’s supply chain. The participating MSMEs gained insights on how to scale their businesses and cater to larger companies from the representatives of the Jollibee Group and the Jollibee Group Foundation, and with the support of the volunteer marketers during the latest Joy in Learning session.

We landed in Madrid ahead of schedule. As soon as the seat belt sign was turned off, passengers scrambled for their luggage in the overhead bins. Traveling in cattle class, it was sensible to wait in our seats and watch, with a mix of amusement and irritation, as people stood for 15 minutes before the line started moving toward the exit. My sister remarked that elsewhere, passengers deplaned by row. Then she commented on a Filipino bad habit inherited from the Spanish: ‘Dito pala natin nakuha ‘yan, maging apurado.’

Being inconsiderate of others to get ahead plagues daily life in Metro Manila. When getting off the MRT, I often stretch out my arms and block passengers trying to get in. Stupid, inconsiderate, and entitled seniors have to be reminded that it is easier to enter a full train if you let people out first. I curse silently during Church when the orderly distribution of hosts by rows is broken by those who dash to the altar. Will the Church run out of hosts? Do you get more grace if you receive communion ahead of everyone else? Impatience, I was told, is a sign of old age. I think my pet peeves about the loss of basic civility in public places result from an obsessive-compulsive temperament and too much foreign travel.

Arriving in Madrid at night last Sunday, Gran Vía was ablaze in Christmas lights and bustling with people. Dec. 8 being a Holy Day of Obligation, we attended Mass, and the only two things I gleaned from a very long sermon in Spanish were: that the Immaculate Conception is the patron saint of lawyers and that Pope Clement XIII decreed in 1760 the Immaculate Conception as the universal and national patroness of Spain. A similar decree for the Philippines came much later in 1942. Pius XII declared the Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception as the principal patroness of the Philippines. It is not well known that St. Pudentiana was the patroness of the Philippines from 1571, and that when St. Rose of Lima was declared the principal patroness of the Spanish Indies in 1670, that extended to the Philippines. Nevertheless, the Immaculate Conception in the Philippines goes a long way. Despite theological disputes over the centuries, when the Diocese of Manila was erected in 1579, Gregory XIII decreed that the Manila Cathedral be placed under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. In 1595, the same was granted to the cathedrals of Nueva Segovia [first in Cagayan, but later moved to Vigan, Ilocos Sur] and Caceres [in Naga, Bicol] by Clement VIII.

On this trip, I began to see the Spanish roots of some Philippine Christmas traditions, like setting up the ‘Belen’ (Spanish for Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus), which are nativity scenes. These can be elaborate, even life-size depictions in churches, or small, simple ones of cardboard or plastic in homes. From my childhood eyes, I remember: Joseph and Mary with a baby in a manger surrounded by donkeys and assorted farm animals. The other figures were shepherd boys and three kings in oriental robes who arrived on camels bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A pity that we did not inherit the wonderful Christmas tradition from Catalonia, Spain, known as the ‘Caganer’ or ‘Caga Tio.’ This is a humorous figure in the Belen scene that depicts a man taking a dump. Often in the form of a farm hand, it takes on many forms, including a degenerate one in the form of former President Rodrigo Duterte!

In the Philippines, the Christmas cake is a fruit cake, often recycled and given away as soon as they are received. In Spain, the Christmas cake is known as ‘Roscon de Reyes.’ It is round, in the form of a crown, ornamented with multicolored candied fruit to mimic jewels. When cut and served on Jan. 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, previously known as the Feast of the Three Kings, two things will be found inside the cream or chocolate filling: a small figure of a king and a lowly bean. Those who get the slice with the king are treated like a king for a day, while the unfortunate, who get the bean, have to pay for the next year’s cake.

Another Christmas tradition from Spain is the Misa del Gallo or ‘Rooster’s Mass.’ The Christmas Eve Mass, often confused with ‘Simbang Gabi’ or the nine dawn masses from Dec. 16 to 24. What the Spanish know as Misa del Gallo, Pinoys know as Misa de Aguinaldo, which is followed by the ‘noche buena’ meal that costs more than P500. Misa del Gallo used to be celebrated on or around midnight on Dec. 24, but is now anticipated at 10 p.m. It traces its roots to Sixtus III in the 5th century, who celebrated a Christmas vigil Mass ‘ad galli cantus (at the crowing of the rooster).’ Folk tradition says a rooster, not an angel, heralded the birth of Jesus. Another explanation for the term Misa del Gallo might have been from the name of the Basilica de S. Petrum in Gallicantum outside Jerusalem that commemorates St. Peter denying Jesus thrice before the cock crowed in fulfillment of a prophecy.

On this trip, I will do more than trace Rizal’s footsteps. I will check Christmas traditions we have in common to see Spain in a new light.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to finish declogging the rivers and waterways of Metro Manila before the wet season in 2026, its chief, Vince Dizon, said on Wednesday.

Dizon said this is part of the goal of Marcos’ ‘Oplan Kontra Baha’ (Operation Plan to Counter Flooding), which mandates the cleaning of drainages, canals, and rivers all across the country to eliminate preventable flooding.

‘We really should clear all of this before the rainy season next year so that the flooding in Metro Manila can be alleviated at least,’ Dizon said in Filipino during a radio dzMM interview.

Pressed on Marcos’ timeline, Dizon said, ‘He said that everything needs to be cleaned up before the rainy season in 2026, so that’s the timeline he gave.’

‘I think next year, it [the efforts] will already provide relief-even if we could not completely eliminate the floods, at least if they do occur, they will subside quickly,’ he also said.

Dizon said the DPWH is working with the Metro Manila Development Authority and local chief executives in the capital region to realize this timeline.

Part of Marcos’ operation plan is to relocate informal settlers residing in the waterways with the help of the National Housing Authority.

Dizon has since inspected waterways in San Juan City and Las Piñas City as part of this operation.

Aside from Metro Manila, this operation is also being done in Metro Cebu and Bacolod City in Visayas.

‘It’s the first time this has been done on this scale,’ Dizon said. /das/abc

Inquirer Interactive Inc., which publishes INQUIRER.net and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday with the Department of Tourism that makes it an official media partner in communications for the Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) 2026, which will be hosted in Cebu.

The memo was signed by Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and Paolo R. Prieto, the president of Inquirer Interactive, at The Conservatory of the Manila Peninsula.

Also present were Shalimar Hofer Tamano, chief of staff and undersecretary for Tourism Regulation, Coordination, and Resource Generation, and Imelda C. Alcantara, chief operating officer of Inquirer Interactive.

Under the one-year deal, the DOT will invite Inquirer to cover the ATF 2026, along with other events and programs, for which the media firm will provide ‘comprehensive coverage.’

There will be no exchange of funds between the DOT and Inquirer Interactives, each bearing its own costs and expenses.

Principal partner

According to a DOT statement, the MOU marks a collective effort to enhance tourism storytelling and amplify national initiatives across print, broadcast, and digital platforms.

Inquirer Interactive signed as a principal partner, alongside other pillars of media, including BusinessMirror, Cignal, Daily Tribune, Malaya Business Insight, Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard, The Manila Times, and The Philippine Star.

The event opened with welcome remarks from Tamano, followed by a video presentation showcasing the continued rise and development of Cebu as the host city for ATF 2026.

After the signing, Prieto expressed Inquirer Interactive’s commitment to responsible and impactful tourism storytelling, saying:

‘This memorandum of understanding deepens that alignment [with the DOT]. Over the next year, Inquirer will provide comprehensive coverage of the DOT’s events and initiatives, including the Love the Philippines campaign and the Asean Tourism Forum 2026. Across our digital platforms, we will continue to amplify stories that connect Filipinos, promote responsible travel, and highlight communities whose livelihoods depend on tourism.’

‘We thank Secretary Frasco and the DOT for trusting Inquirer as your official media partner. We look forward to supporting your programs and ensuring that the stories of our people, our destinations, and our industries reach audiences here and around the world,’ he continued.

‘Together, let us help advance a tourism sector that reflects the resilience, creativity, and spirit of the Filipino nation. Thank you, and we look forward to a meaningful partnership,’ he added.

DOT’s 2025 iniatives

In 2025, the DOT’s successful initiatives included the promotion and preservation of marine biodiversity in dive spots, halal tourism, and golf tourism.

Frasco addressed the guests and pillars of media in her message, as well as crediting Assistant Secretary Ina Loyola.

‘Today’s gathering in every sense is a gathering of people who care about Philippine tourism.. If we take a moment to look back to the year behind us was anything but calm,’ she said, mentioning the natural calamities and other issues of national importance.

‘Here we are today, not discouraged by any means, but standing stronger. Because even in this chaos, I say this with the conviction [that] Philippine tourism shows one of the silver linings of our national story,’ she added.

Frasco went on to mention relief assistance for tourism workers, who are the backbone of Philippine tourism, as well as record revenues for employment, high domestic tourism, tourist rest areas across the country, and more successes of the DOT in the year so far.

According to the DOT statement, ‘The partnership moving into 2026 underscores the shared vision between DOT and the country’s media organizations to promote a safe, inclusive, and globally competitive tourism industry – one that uplifts communities and showcases the Philippines’ cultural and natural richness, in both land and spirit.

Former Senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. on Wednesday appeared before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and submitted his response to the allegations linking him to the anomalous flood control projects.

Revilla has been included as an additional respondent in one of the first five cases pending at the DOJ – all related to flood-control contracts in Bulacan.

‘Mr. Bong Revilla came here to file his response to the complaint filed against him, which allegedly involves a violation of RA 3019),’ Atty. Francesca Señga told reporters.

She said the former senator submitted proof that the allegations against him are ‘absolute lies and nothing but lies.’

She said there are no other pending complaints against the former senator at the DOJ.

Señga said Revilla is hopeful that the DOJ will be fair in its investigation and look only at the evidence.

‘Mr. Revilla hopes that the DOJ will be fair and will look at the evidence and not let this complaint reach the court,’ she said.

Revilla was implicated in the flood control mess after former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Roberto Bernardo mentioned that he had allegedly delivered P125 million to Revilla’s house in December 2024 and another P250 million delivered by his aide before the 2025 elections.

The Office of the Ombudsman said Revilla’s case is already at an advanced stage and expects a resolution soon

Police authorities arrested during a law enforcement operation led by Lt. Col. Julius R Malcontento, the town’s police chief, the alleged gunman who shot dead a village chief here in August last year.

In his report to Colonel Bernard Lao, Sultan Kudarat provincial police director, Malcontento identified the supect as alias Alu, 35, of Barangay Laguilayan, Isulan town.

The suspect figured among the 10 most wanted persons at the regional level, and top in the most wanted persons list at the provincial and municipal levels.

He was arrested at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10, in Sitio Calumpang, Barangay Laguilayan, Isulan.

Malcontento, along with personnel from Sultan Kudarat’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, provincial intelligence operatives, Sultan Kudarat highway patrol units, PRO-12 tracker team delta, and provincial mobile force company, under the supervision of Colonel Lao, served the arrest warrant for murder against the suspect.

Malcontento said ‘Ali’ was the primary suspect and the alleged gunman in the killing of Amado Serra Jr, chairman of Barangay Laguilayan, on August 19, 2024.

The 64-year-old Serra was driving a car on his way to the market when two men on a motorbike opened fire, killing him instantly.

Two House majority lawmakers on Wednesday denied allegations that their colleagues were trying to block the livestreaming of the bicameral conference committee deliberations, saying that the leadership has always been clear about wanting to make the budget process more transparent especially amid the ongoing flood control scandal.

In a press conference, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong and Manila Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. both agreed that they ‘haven’t heard of a single member of the House’ who has opposed proposals to open up the traditionally closed-door proceedings online.

‘We don’t know where that (report) came from but if you ask us, Speaker (Faustino) Dy III has been very consistent and very clear in his position that the bicam would be livestreamed so that people could see every step of the way, how congressmen and senators appreciate the line items in the general appropriations bill,’ said Adiong, who is one of the vice chairs of the appropriations committee.

‘With all the conversations we had with the leadership and all the House members, everybody has been in unison about livestreaming (the bicam),’ added Dionisio.

This, after Sen. Erwin Tulfo insinuated that some House members were opposed to the bicam livestream during a discussion with Senate President Vicente Sotto III.

For Adiong, however, the allegation made no sense since ‘from the very beginning, it was clear that that was the direction of the House – to livestream the entire budget deliberation from the committee level until the BARSc (budget amendments review subcommittee).’

At the same time, he said the panel supported ‘other forms, methods or modes that would ensure transparency in the deliberation of the bicam,’ including disclosing the proponents for each individual project.

‘This is so we know whose proposal this is, which district it would be brought, why it would be brought there, would it really be helpful to their community,’ Adiong said. ‘However, it would have to be mutually agreed upon by the contingents.’

Last month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself ordered both chambers of Congress to make sure that the bicam deliberations for the 2026 budget is opened up to the public to dispel allegations that the closed-door proceedings were being used to insert anomalous projects in the national budget.

If ever, this would be the first time in the country’s history that the so-called ‘third Congress’ would be livestreamed.

Filipinos are furious. The flood-control scandal has exposed a national disgrace: a web of ghost projects, shadow contractors, substandard works, and brazen kickbacks that stole billions and left entire communities literally underwater.

Errant civil engineers-compromised by corrupt incentives-built dikes that never existed. Now, civic engineers must rebuild a Republic that is dangerously close to collapse.

But here’s the truth we rarely confront: the Philippines is not suffering from a shortage of civic engineers. We are suffering from a shortage of civic engineers who enter the combat ring of politics.

Civic engineers exist in every barangay, every city hall, every university, and every civil society network. They are planning officers who fix busted systems. Teachers who innovate without fanfare. Scientists who build resilience models ignored by their mayors. Volunteer groups that show LGUs how transparency actually works. Young people who can map 20-year futures better than our national agencies.

We are surrounded by civic engineers. But only a handful ever rise to positions where they can change the system. And only a few survive long enough to matter.

The Philippines has never built a national nursery for civic engineers-a system that identifies them, trains them, supports them, protects them, and launches them into public leadership.

Historically, our civic engineers emerged through heroism or tragedy: Wenceslao Vinzons, Maria Orosa, Edgar Jopson, Ninoy Aquino, Evelio Javier. They rose because the country was in danger. Many died because the country had no way to protect them.

Today, the battlefield is political, economic, and digital-not military. But the risks are still lethal. Political dynasties control local power. Patronage machines punish dissenters. Campaigns cost fortunes civic engineers that cannot raise. Disinformation mobs destroy reputations.

So our civic engineers stay in the shadows-ethical, capable, patriotic, but unwilling to gamble the safety of their children, their parents, or their livelihoods. Some enter the political arena but retreat when singed by fire.

There is a built-in speed and trajectory limiter in Filipino society. It not only slows down our best people; it keeps them out of politics. It ensures that our civic engineers remain brilliant footnotes instead of transformational leaders.

Into this vacuum rushes the familiar spectacle: massive rallies, moral outrage, social media trench warfare. Partisans who all want change are tearing each other apart because they disagree on how to get there. Some want resignations. Some want a transition council.

Some demand mass arrests. A few whisper about coups. The President fans the flames by promising ‘Christmas in jail.’

Jailing a few does not fix the system that allowed plunder to become predictable. We confuse heat with strategy. We mistake mobilization for movement-building. We imagine that unless the change is immediate, it is meaningless. But as we have painfully learned, outrage cannot engineer anything.

Civic engineers are not saviors-they are system builders. They take public anger and convert it into institutional design, long-term strategy, participatory processes, interoperable networks, durable pressure on Congress, policy blueprints, and futures-oriented reform pathways.

We see glimpses of this: Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo’s data-driven community work. Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong’s governance reforms. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto’s procurement transparency. But three examples do not build a nation. What we need is a distributed corps of civic engineers-visible in all municipalities, provinces, regions, and sectors, capable of turning mass outrage into long-term political architecture.

If we truly want transformation-not catharsis-we must build the systems that allow civic engineers to rise. This includes: (1) a Political Party Development Act that supports real, programmatic parties; (2) reform of the bastardized party list system, captured by dynasties and proxies; (3) campaign finance rules that don’t require candidates to sell their souls; (4) local civic academies that train future civic engineers in participation, projectization, futures thinking, and coalition-building; and (5) protection mechanisms so good people can enter politics without risking their lives or their children’s well-being. Only then will civic engineers finally exceed the speed limiter that has held them back for generations.

The Philippines does not lack civic engineers. It lacks the ability to grow them, protect them, and deploy them. Until we fix that, we will keep producing ghost projects-and ghost reform movements.

The country is crying out not just for justice, but for architecture. Not just for anger, but for engineering. Errant civil engineers brought us to the brink. Civic engineers will bring us back.

Zia Quizon opened up about her 2022 marriage with her Serbian husband Aleksa Rahul, revealing their love story started after they met online.

The singer spoke about this during her ‘Fast Talk with Boy Abunda’ interview on Monday, Dec. 8, saying she opted to be private about their wedding because of Rahul’s culture.

‘They tend to be very private. [Their] culture is a lot more private, then maybe [Filipinos] are like the most online. They’re kind of like the opposite,’ she said. ‘I wanted to be sensitive to their sensibilities in that regard, and I just wanted to be present [during the wedding].’

She added that from her family, only her mom Zsa Zsa Padilla and the veteran singer’s partner Conrad Onglao were present during her special day.

Quizon then recalled sharing her ‘proof of husband and wife’ post in 2022, and admitted it was because of a confusion among netizens on social media.

‘My husband’s name is Aleksa so parang akala nila babae siya. Biglang may nagto-troll so I just tried to have a sense of humor about it,’ she explained, recounting how some even remarked that Rahul looked like a ‘transman.’

(My husband’s name is Aleksa so some people thought he was a female. Some were also trolling so I just tried to have a sense of humor about it.)

When asked how she met her husband, Quizon responded, ‘Online.’

Quizon, however, did not expound on the details of their meeting as it can still be ‘not safe.’ She nonetheless shared that they connected through mutual interests.

‘Kasi ‘pag organically may nagkakilala online (Because when you organically meet online)-it happens more nowadays but it’s also something that can definitely still be ‘unsafe,” she added.

Quizon further disclosed that she did not have any photo of Rahul when they started talking. She also revealed she flew to Serbia after a few months of having communication to make sure he was ‘real.’

‘We met and he was real. We hit it off and [fell in love],’ she said.

During the ‘Fast Talk’ segment of the interview, Zia also admitted she is not ready yet to have a baby.