Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Rice farming is central to Philippine food security. In recent months , farmers had experienced excessively low farmgate palay prices at ?10-?12 per kilogram , far below production costs of P18 to P20/kg.

EO 100 directed the Department of Agriculture (DA) to set a floor price for palay, but lacked Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) and funding for the National Food Authority (NFA).

EO 101 was later issued to operationalize the floor price through NFA’s Price Range Scheme (PRICERS). PRICERS was designed to operationalize the government’s floor price for palay. It ensures that NFA’s procurement prices adjust to market realities while still guaranteeing farmers a minimum income.

PRICERS is NFA’s structured, adjustable price band for palay procurement, operationalizing the floor price mandated by EO 101.

The price ranges at ?23-?30 per kilo for clean and dry palay and for fresh or wet palay, the range is ?17-?23 per kilo, depending on moisture content and quality.

By setting a floor price, EO 101 demonstrates strong state commitment to agriculture and food security. It signals to farmers that the government recognizes their struggles and is willing to intervene to protect their livelihoods.

EO 101 complements EO 100 by enabling the National Food Authority (NFA) to act through the Price Range Scheme (PRICERS).

This provides a concrete operational pathway for implementing the floor price, which EO 100 lacked.

EO 101 reduces volatility in palay markets. It helps stabilize supply chains and ensures that farmers can plan production with greater confidence, knowing that their crops will not be undervalued. It provides a safety net, guaranteeing that farmers receive at least a minimum return for their harvest.

EO 101 does not guarantee sufficient budget allocation for NFA procurement. Without dedicated funds, NFA cannot purchase palay at scale, limiting the reach of the floor price mechanism and leaving many farmers unassisted.

NFA’s limited capacity and history of inefficiencies pose challenges for effective rollout.

Expanding procurement operations nationwide requires significant logistical and administrative resources, which may strain the agency.

No official IRR for EO101 has been published yet. This means agencies are relying on the EO text and existing NFA procurement guidelines, which could lead to uneven implementation.

Without IRR, regional NFA offices or partner agencies may interpret the price range differently.

IRR usually specifies procedures (e.g., quality standards, moisture content testing, documentation, payment timelines). Farmers and traders need clear rules to prevent uneven enforcement or arbitrary application of the price bands.

The Sagip Saka Act (Republic Act 11321) provides the legal framework for government agencies to directly purchase agricultural products from farmers and fisherfolk.

Through EO 101 Local Government Units (LGUs) are empowered to purchase palay directly from farmers without public bidding under the Sagip Saka framework.

EO 101 highlights that LGUs can legally buy palay without bidding. However, their financial and logistical constraints will make large-scale implementation impractical unless additional support systems are provided.

While this provision is designed to decentralize procurement and bring government support closer to farmers, it faces several limitations:

Most LGUs do not have warehouses or drying facilities to properly store palay. Without milling systems, they cannot process palay into rice for resale.

Agricultural procurement and rice trading are not core LGU functions. Their primary responsibilities lie in governance, basic services, and local development, making palay procurement an added burden.

Agricultural towns and municipalities often have limited budgets. Funding palay purchases, hiring personnel, and covering logistics costs would strain their finances.

Without proper infrastructure and expertise, LGU-led procurement may lead to inefficiencies, spoilage, or even corruption.

Moreover, under the Sagip Saka Act, only registered farmer cooperatives and associations (FCAs) are eligible to transact directly with government procurement programs.

This requirement excludes about 95% of farmers, since only 4-6% are members of registered cooperatives. As a result, the majority of smallholder farmers cannot benefit from EO 101..

While EO 101 can be a positive intervention for rice farmers, but its reliance on Sagip Saka eligibility rules and the limited capacity of LGUs severely restrict its reach.

By excluding 95% of farmers who are not members of registered cooperatives, and by burdening LGUs with responsibilities outside their mandate, EO 101 risks becoming a partial or ineffective solution. Without reforms, its impact on price stabilization and farmer welfare will remain a legal artifact

EO 101 can be made effective but the following must be done:

-Expand eligibility beyond cooperatives by amending Sagip Saka rules to allow individual farmers and informal groups to participate.

-Create a simplified registration system for smallholder farmers

-Fast-track cooperative registration by providing assistance for farmers to form and register cooperatives.

-Offer incentives such as tax breaks or grants for newly registered groups;

-Support LGUs with infrastructure and funding

-Establish shared warehouses and drying facilities at the provincial level.

-1Provide special budget allocations to LGUs for palay procurement, separate from their IRA.

-1Train LGU personnel in agricultural procurement and logistics

-Establish a national database of farmers eligible for NFA procuremen

-1Use mobile platforms to register farmers quickly and transparently

-Create regional monitoring committees with farmer representation and ensure transparency in procurement and payment processes.

White Plains Avenue will be temporarily closed for the Trillion Peso March starting 6 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30, the Quezon City government announced.

‘As preparation for the said event, a zipper lane will be implemented on the stretch of White Plains Avenue between Edsa and Katipunan Avenue starting 9 p.m. on Nov. 29 until 6 a.m. on Nov. 30,’ the Quezon City government noted in an advisory on Friday.

The advisory further said heavier traffic can be expected on the following roads during the rally:

Edsa

Katipunan Avenue

Ortigas Avenue

Temple Drive

‘Motorists are advised to take alternative routes,’ the Quezon City government advised.

It added that the following areas can be used for parking during the Trillion Peso March:

Temple Drive up to Giraffe St. (for light vehicles)

B. Serrano Ave. eastbound (one-side parking for buses)

18th and 20th Aves. (for buses and light vehicles)

Along Edsa from People Power Monument up to Camp Aguinaldo Gate 3 (for friendly forces)

The city government also noted that its personnel along with those of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Quezon City Police District will be on stand-by to assist with traffic management during the event.

Born to a carpenter and a housewife in a small barangay in Miagao town, Iloilo, George Wilson Escordial rose from days of having no ‘balon’ (money) and eating once a day to become the topnotcher of the November 2025 Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination (PNLE).

The 23-year-old student of West Visayas State University-College of Nursing (WVSU-CON) could not hold back his tears as he recalled how difficult life had been for him growing up in Barangay Kirayan Norte, Miagao.

In an interview on Friday, Escordial shared that he was raised by parents who were both high school graduates with limited income, but they never allowed their circumstances to stop them from giving their three children access to quality education.

He remembered going to school during his elementary years without money in his pocket.

In high school, when his father became ill, the family often ate only once a day, surviving on barnuts, patis (fish sauce), and chichirya (junk food) as their viand.

‘My family strived to make sure we could go to school. Life was hard. I had no money. During high school, when my father got sick, we would eat only once a day,’ he said in Ilonggo.

Proud of parents

Escordial said he was never ashamed of his upbringing because he knew his parents had done everything they could to provide for their family – and this inspired him to work even harder.

‘What I could give back to them was to study well, and at the end of the school year, let them walk up the stage to see me wearing a medal,’ he added.

To earn money, Escordial took on various tasks – applying for multiple scholarships, carrying sand, fetching water, and doing whatever work he could find.

After securing the top spot in this year’s exam with a 93.80 percent rating, he vowed to lift his family out of poverty and give them a better life.

WVSU continued to earn recognition as one of the country’s best nursing schools, maintaining its six-year streak of a 100 percent PNLE passing rate.

This year, it produced 36 topnotchers, two of whom tied for first place in the overall ranking.

The Cebuana Lhuillier-backed Unified Tennis Philippines (UTP) National Team has officially arrived in Malaysia as they prepare to compete in one of the region’s key junior tennis tournaments. The delegation is composed of top-performing athletes across five age divisions-representing the Philippines in the 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, and 18U categories.

This year’s delegation includes standout talents Thia Comia (10U); Etha Nadine Seno and Shaner Gabaldon (12U); Kathlyn Bugna and Mitch Cruspero (14U); Khalilah Imalay and Cadee Dagoon (16U); and AJ Acabo and Cielo Gonzales (18U) for the girls’ team. The boys’ team features Enzo Niere (10U); Sherwin Gomos and Pete Niere (12U); Claudwin Tonacao and EJ Niere (14U); Matthew Morris and Marwin Plata (16U); and Ariel Cabaral Jr. and Juvels Velos (18U). All athletes advanced through the Cebuana Lhuillier Tennis Tour and UTP Elite Eight Playoffs, which continues to serve as a grassroots pipeline for young Filipino players.

Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier expressed his full support for the delegation, emphasizing the company’s continued commitment to tennis development. ‘We are proud of these young athletes who have worked tirelessly to earn their place on the national team,’ he said. ‘Their participation in this international tournament reflects our long-standing mission to uplift Filipino youth through sports and provide them with opportunities to grow, compete, and excel.’The team’s participation is made possible through the support of its official sponsors: Cebuana Lhuillier, UNILAB, Alternatives Food Corp, NAVEGAR, PhilCare, STI, and Dunlop. Their collective efforts help ensure that Filipino junior players gain competitive exposure and international experience that elevate the local tennis landscape.

Farmers in Eastern Visayas regions celebrated a significant milestone this week as the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) awarded land titles, certificates of condonation with release of mortgage (Cocrom), and farm equipment worth P50 million in a program at the Tacloban City Astrodome.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III led the distribution on Tuesday, marking a major step toward securing land ownership and improving productivity for agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) across the six provinces in the region.

A total of 4,613 electronic land titles (e-titles) covering 10,000.73 hectares were awarded to 4,190 farmers, while 3,011 Cocrom documents, which release beneficiaries from existing mortgage obligations, were handed out to 2,048 farmers, covering 4,492.39 ha valued at nearly P100 million.

One of the recipients, 81-year-old Angela Pelones from the village of Borok in Ormoc City, Leyte, expressed her joy at finally securing her own land title.

‘I have been dreaming about this, and finally, after so many years, the land is now mine. Thank you to our government,’ she said.

Pelones will cultivate her 1-ha land with the help of her 30-year-old grandson, while all seven of her children live in Metro Manila.

Farm machines, equipment

In addition to land rights, farm vehicles, machines, and equipment were distributed to agrarian cooperatives and farmers’ organizations in Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Biliran. These included hauling trucks, motorcycles, tractors, mobile rice mills, floating tillers, and rice threshers with blowers that would help boost farm productivity and livelihood.

The DAR has set its sights on completing the nationwide distribution of 800,000 remaining land titles before the end of President Marcos’ term in 2028. While the agency initially targeted 300,000 titles in 2025, weather-related disruptions had delayed delivery, with just over 200,000 titles distributed as of November.

But Estrella remains hopeful of hitting the agency’s target.

‘Once land title distribution is completed, the DAR will fully shift its efforts toward expanded support services for ARBs,’ he said.

In Eastern Visayas alone, 8,860 farmers have benefited from 11,067 e-titles covering 18,107 ha, out of the region’s 40,600-ha target for 2025

I spent 40 hours hopping between four airports to reach the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belem, Brazil. Before I even stepped into the negotiations, the journey alone reminded me of the barriers climate activists must break just to be in the room. It was my first COP. Nothing prepared me for the intensity of the chaos: shifting schedules, decoding technical texts, nonstop speaking engagements, navigating the politics that decide who gets heard-all while running on little sleep and walking 20,000 steps a day under the Amazon heat.

But the existential crisis came later. One morning, walking into a conference older than me, I asked myself: why do young climate activists like me still have to fight so hard for the most basic forms of justice? I felt like a speck of dust in a place overflowing with power, privilege, and competing agendas. And then I remembered where I come from.

My hometown is already living the future that many COP delegates are afraid to imagine.

I grew up in Zambales, home to one of the Philippines’ longest-operating coal plants. I saw communities bear the health impacts and environmental fallout, from coal ash exposure to constant threats of plant expansions, from damaged livelihoods of farmers and fisherfolk to deepening inequalities in already vulnerable communities.

So when COP30 talks about adaptation finance or transition pathways, I cannot help but think of my fellow kababayans-people who drown long before the world agrees to stop drowning them. Days before my flight, two deadly typhoons hit the Philippines in a week, causing $320 million in damage.

When the outcomes were gavelled through, I felt the weight of why our presence matters. Being here is not symbolic but necessary. I came because I have seen what fossil fuel dependence does to our communities. I refuse to let people who will never live with these consequences decide our fate without resistance.

The progress made in the Just Transition Work Programme is worth celebrating. It moved faster than expected, reflecting decades of struggle from trade unions, communities, social movements, indigenous peoples, and civil society. This win reflects the lessons carried forward with greater solidarity and a stronger push.

But without adequate finance, a just transition is a promise without a pathway. The decision remains hollow where it matters most: where is the money, and who will provide it?

Belem was supposed to be symbolic. It has been 33 years since countries first signed the UN Climate Treaty, hosted in a country that knows the stakes closely. This COP has the opportunity to mark a meaningful turning point for the Global South. Instead, it fell short on ambition, equity, finance, and justice. A text named after a Tupi-Guarani word for collective effort failed to deliver the collective courage.

A credible road map to transition away from fossil fuels remains absent. The text references transition but avoids clarity on timelines, financing, and responsibility. The strong means to make the transition meaningful were never truly on the negotiating table.

I am no longer shocked by what’s happening, and that is exactly the problem. Global North hypocrisy has become a routine: climate promises, no money, and continued fossil fuel expansion in the Global South. This is why the final text reads like a performative ambition, not a survival blueprint.

The finance provisions follow a familiar pattern: vague language, loopholes, and recycled ambition. Yes, there is a two-year work program under Article 9.1 and mention of tripling adaptation finance, but a footnote clarifies that nothing is binding.

Adaptation funds are dramatically insufficient, with no baseline. Will it be a new standalone $120 billion target? A sub-target of last year’s $300 billion goal? No one knows. What is certain is that the Global South needs $310 to $365 billion per year by 2035, which is 12 to 14 times higher than current finance flows.

As the world’s most disaster-prone country for the fourth time, our survival depends on a real fossil fuel phaseout backed by real money. Yet our delegation remained radio silent at critical moments. Silence in the face of climate injustice is abandonment.

Worse, a dangerous narrative is circulating that the Global South is the obstacle to progress. We must resist these narratives that paint us as the problem.

Until rich, polluting countries confront their own contradictions, they will only sow distrust and weakened support from Global South communities, and climate justice will remain out of reach. This is why young activists like me must remain inside and outside of these halls, no matter how exhausting they can be. When we do not show up, they win.

COP is just one battleground. The fight for climate justice continues at home, in our communities, in our streets, and in every space where power must be held accountable.

College of St. Benilde coach Charles Tiu had one clear game plan against defending champion Mapua in the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball quarterfinals at San Juan Arena on Friday.

The plan? Stop Cardinals star Clint Escamis. The Blazers did just that to give Mapua the boot, 74-72, and advance to the semifinals.

‘We [had to] put our best defenders on him,’ Tiu said. ‘Clint was our number one priority, him and (Cyrus) Cuenco. We still have nightmares from last year on how they torched and killed us in the finals.’

Tiu made sure the Blazers clamped down on the former Finals MVP in what turned out to be his last game in the NCAA.

Escamis finished with only three points and five boards before getting ejected in the third quarter due to a disqualifying foul.

Like in their first clash in the quarterfinals, Escamis also failed to make a single field goal-going blank on 16 attempts across two games against Benilde.

That, however, doesn’t take away from his talents, according to Tiu.

‘Clint is a great player but finally, for a change, we’re the ones who defeated him,’ he said, recalling how Escamis swept the Blazers in last season’s Finals.

The Blazers will now have to map out a new defensive plan when they take on San Beda in the best-of-three semifinals.

‘They’ve beaten us twice already so I hope this time, kami naman. We have to look forward to San Beda, they’re a great team,’ the young tactician said.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) will be suspending permits to carry firearms outside of residence (PTCFORs) in Metro Manila from Saturday until Monday (November 29 to December 1) in view of the second Trillion Peso March.

This announcement came in a memorandum issued by Acting PNP Chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. dated Nov. 27 and sent to reporters in Camp Crame on Friday.

‘In view of the Trillion Peso March. permits to carry firearms outside of residence are hereby suspended in Metro Manila from 12:01 a.m. of Nov. 29, 2025 to 11:59 p.m. of Dec. 1, 2025,’ the memorandum read.

‘Only members of the AFP, PNP and other law enforcement agencies performing official duties and in agency-prescribed uniforms are allowed to carry firearms,’ it added.

The PNP previously said it will deploy 15,000 police officers to secure the demonstrations and that it expects 300,000 attendees at rallies across Metro Manila.

The second Trillion Peso March on November 30 (Sunday) is among a series of protests stemming from alleged corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) has welcomed Sen. Robin Padilla’s move to file a resolution directing the Senate to investigate the office’s alleged dissemination of false and misleading information.

At a briefing on Friday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro was asked for a comment on the matter, which stemmed from ‘concerns regarding the dissemination of unverified, inconsistent, potentially propagandizing and misleading information from the PCO.’

She responded by reading a statement from PCO Secretary Dave Gomez:

‘That resolution, we welcome the filing of the resolution,’ it read.

Castro said the PCO, the government’s main communication arm, will give its full cooperation to assist the Senate in its probe.

In Senate Resolution No. 188, Padilla said that effective, accurate and responsible public communication is crucial to achieving public trust in government.

The senator also noted some criticisms of the PCO’s communication style, pointing out that some official statements have been delivered in a manner that is combative, rhetorical or lacking in data-driven clarity, rather than in calm, fact-based and public-service-oriented statements.

The P110 million in cash returned by former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer Henry Alcantara is only a small fraction of the trillions allegedly lost to kickbacks in flood-control projects, House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima said, as she urged other personalities implicated in the scheme to follow suit.

De Lima said the House Liberal Party (LP) bloc has filed House Resolution No. 524 seeking an inquiry into ‘the status of recovering ill-gotten or unexplained wealth from those linked to what lawmakers describe as the country’s biggest corruption scandal.’

The probe aims to determine implementation gaps, ensure accountability, and recommend measures to strengthen the government’s anti-corruption mechanisms, she added.

‘This is still a small amount compared to the trillions of pesos that went into kickbacks and the pockets of those who colluded in anomalous projects. We urge other individuals involved in the flood control projects controversy to follow suit,’ the lawmaker said in a statement written in Filipino on Friday.

She also pressed the government to accelerate efforts to file cases and recover stolen public funds.

De Lima likewise renewed calls for the swift passage of the proposed Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption (ICAIC) law, which she said would create a stronger, more comprehensive, and truly independent body to investigate anomalous government projects.

‘No stalling should be allowed in passing the ICAIC bill. Let me repeat: the President should certify it as urgent,’ she said.

‘Besides the value of the recovered stolen wealth, we will also monitor how it will be used. The government’s plan for it should be clear, and it should bring significant benefits to our people,’ she added.