Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Anthony ‘Tonyboy’ Liao has been elected as the new Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president.

Liao succeeded former PNVF president Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara after the elections and general assembly on Friday at the Vault Bonifacio Global City. He will lead the 2025-28 PNVF board.

‘Thank you so much to my team who believed in me. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t have won. I’m really grateful to everyone who voted for us,’ said Liao in Filipino.

‘I’m promising them that we won’t fail in our plans. They know our programs, and they can be sure we’ll make them happen.’

Dr. Arnel Hajan was appointed chairman. Yul Benosa was named vice president, and Otie Camangian was named secretary general.

Ricky Palou will serve as treasurer, while Roger Banzuela the auditor.

The other board members are Charo Soriano, Fr. Vic Calvo, Michael Angelo Vargas, Sherwin Maganda, Daniel Cong-o, Edward Lee, Ma. Socorro Calleja.

Liao, the longtime Premier Volleyball League official, has been part of the PNVF board since 2021. He was also the National Teams Commission chairman.

He has also been part of Philippine volleyball’s growth from his role with the Shakey’s V-League to the PVL.

Liao also managed the women’s volleyball programs of La Salle and Ateneo, who won several championships in the UAAP.

The world of Panem tightens its grip once again as the first trailer for the franchise’s latest prequel, ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,’ has been revealed, tracing the origins of one of its most enduring figures, Haymitch Abernathy.

Directed by longtime series filmmaker Francis Lawrence, the film adapts Suzanne Collins’ 2023 novel and takes viewers back to the Second Quarter Quell, a Games notorious for doubling each district’s tributes and infamously shaping the resentful mentor that fans met decades later in the original films.

Newcomer Joseph Zada leads the cast as a young Haymitch, whose selection in the reaping sets off a chain of events that would define his distrust of the Capitol.

The trailer opens with the tense ceremony in District 12, led by Glenn Close as the chilling escort Drusilla Sickle. Haymitch enters the Games alongside fellow tributes Maysilee Donner (McKenna Grace), Wyatt Callow (Ben Wang) and Louella McCoy (Molly McCann).

The teaser also introduces Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Haymitch’s girlfriend and a distant relative of characters tied to earlier chapters of Panem’s history.

‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ also offers a first look at familiar faces, now portrayed by a new ensemble including Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, and Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket.

Their appearances anchor the prequel within the series’ established timeline, set 40 years after ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ and 24 years before ‘The Hunger Games.’

The 2-minute and 11-second trailer suggests a return to the franchise’s earlier, grittier themes: exploitation and the psychological toll of survival, this time through the experience of a single tribute whose choices would one day shape Katniss Everdeen’s rebellion.

Lawrence is once again at the helm for the prequel film, with Billy Ray on the screenplay. It also stars Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Maya Hawke as Wiress, and Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman.

‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ opens in theaters on Nov. 20, 2026.

Chanelle Avaricio assumed the spearhead’s role for the struggling LPGT delegation in the Party Golfers Ladies Open, as a second round one-under-par 71 put her inside the top 20 even as the tournament toasted a new leader in Wenny Chang, who fired a 69 at wind-whipped Lily Golf and Country Club in Hsinchu.

After a shaky 76 in the opening round, Avaricio brandished a better short game, but with a 137 aggregate, would need to come back from seven shots down in the final round to win, with Florence Bisera and LK Go, who had 72s on Wednesday, tumbling by the wayside after a 77 and 80, respectively.

The Department of Justice has indicted New Seataoo Corp. and Seataoo Information Technology OPC, along with their officers and directors, for allegedly engaging in illegal investment schemes, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a statement on Friday, the corporate watchdog said state prosecutors found prima facie evidence to charge these entities for violating Sections 8 and 28 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC). This is in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

They likewise recommended filing 54 counts of violating Section 26 of the SRC. Each count represents the complaints that investors filed.

‘Respondents misrepresented their companies as a legitimate e-commerce platform when, in truth, there was no inventory, no supplier arrangements and no real product movement. The sellers could not operate their own independent online shops,’ the DOJ resolution dated Oct. 22 states.

‘Their failure to register these securities with the SEC deprived the investing public of the safeguards and disclosures required by law, thereby constituting a clear and deliberate infraction of the said provision,’ it said.

Aside from the two companies, executives indicted are New Seataoo CEO Widiana Chen and project manager Dylan Lim. Also indicted were directors Anna Rose Jangao Tero, Jonathan Tuazon Garcia, Danny Tuazon Sudaria, Lew Yean Yee and Seow Kai Sheng.

Also included are Seataoo OPC’s single stockholder, Jayson Corono Clidoro.

Aside from the newly crowned Miss Universe 2025 queens, Jinkee Pacquiao has also been a trending topic on social media after pageant fans noticed her apparent resemblance to new titleholder Fatima Bosch.

The new celebrity grandmom poked fun at the numerous social media posts addressing her as ‘Miss Mexico,’ the country Bosch represents, as seen on Jinkee’s Instagram page on Friday, Nov. 21-the day of the Miss Universe 2025 coronation show.

One of the posts she shared was from social media page Senyora, which tagged Jinkee’s handle while showing photos of Bosch from the swimsuit competition.

Senyora also made a congratulatory post, quipping that Bosch emerging as the titleholder is ‘still a win for the Philippines.’

‘Congrats Madam Jinkee! You’ve made the Philippines and Sen. Manny proud,’ the caption read, referring to Jinkee’s husband Manny Pacquiao.

Jinkee, in response, wrote, ‘Parang ang layo naman Senyora, pero thank you na rin.’ (I don’t think [we look alike] but thank you.) In one of her posts, Jinkee can also be heard cheering for Bosch during the announcement of the Miss Universe 2025 titleholder and first runner up. Bosch took home the Miss Universe 2025 crown after besting 119 delegates including Philippines’ Ahtisa Manalo. Rounding up the winners were Thailand’s Praveenar Singh as first runner-up, Stephany Abasali of Venezuela as second runner-up, and Manalo and Cote d’Ivoire’s Olivia Yace as the third and fourth runners-up, respectively.

Meanwhile, Jinkee has been busy lately as she and Manny recently welcomed their first grandchild, the daughter of their eldest son Jimuel Pacquiao

Ahtisa Manalo was guided by professional dance coach Stephen Ramos Biadoma for her choreography for the national costume competition of the Miss Universe 2025 pageant.

‘Happy to have played even a small part in this journey!’ Biadoma said on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Nov. 19, showing a clip of the Philippine bet from the presentation.

Biadoma is the dance coach and director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Salinggawi Dance Troupe, the official dance group of the España-based university known for its versatility covering wide array of genre from performing arts to cheerleading, from contemporary to breakdancing.

He then made a mention of Manalo as well as Filipino designer Mak Tumang who was behind the beauty queen’s ‘Festajada: Queen of Philippine Festivals’ costume.

‘Huge congratulations to Mak Tumang for this incredible masterpiece, and to Ma. Ahtisa Manalo for a flawless and fabulous presentation,’ he stated. ‘sSo happy you made those turns effortlessly. You make the whole country beaming with pride!’

‘My heart is overflowing! Para sa bayan, always! Mabuhay, Pilipinas!’ he added.

Manalo is competing at the 74th edition of the Miss Universe pageant, hoping to bring home the Philippines’ fifth crown. The coronation show is held on Friday, Nov. 21 in Thailand

Tourism industry players in Bohol are expressing renewed optimism as signs point to a gradual rebound in visitor arrivals, raising hopes that the province may soon return to its prepandemic performance.

Dr. Doloreich Dumaluan, a resort owner and a director of the Panglao Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said November could mark the beginning of the return of international visitors.

He cited the renewed presence of Korean tourists in Panglao this week as a promising indication of recovery.

‘Let us pray and hope this will continue,’ Dumaluan told the Inquirer, noting that tourists were seen crowding the beaches on Wednesday.

The province’s hospitality sector is still recovering from the impacts of environmental issues and successive Typhoons ‘Tino’ (international name: Kalmaegi) and ‘Uwan’ (Fung-wong), which disrupted operations and forced some tourist sites and markets to close temporarily.

Dumaluan said the tourism industry moves in cycles, with July to October considered lean months. He added that this period typically allows resort owners to repair and renovate facilities ahead of the next tourism cycle.

Peak season

According to him, European tourists usually begin arriving in November, followed by a surge of both domestic and foreign visitors from December to March. He said local tourists continue to boost the industry from April to June.

Dumaluan said the decline in tourist arrivals was not unique to Bohol, noting that other destinations in the Philippines and other countries, such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore, are experiencing similar slowdowns.

He urged stakeholders to intensify marketing efforts by joining travel marts, inviting friends and relatives, and promoting smaller resorts and hotels to enhance competitiveness.

Bohol has increasingly gained a reputation for being ‘gold’-overpriced and overrated, a perception that tourism stakeholders say is becoming a serious concern.

While Panglao remains a prime tourism gem, some visitors report that high or inconsistent pricing-whether for food, accommodations, or activities-dampens their experience.

Officials and business groups warned that these concerns may discourage tourists from returning or recommending the destination, highlighting the need for fair pricing, improved service standards, and stronger regulation to protect Panglao’s long-term appeal.

‘Pressing concern’

Provincial Board Member Jiselle Rae Villamor, chair of the committee on tourism, described the drop in visitor arrivals as a ‘pressing concern’ that requires coordinated action among government and private sector leaders.

Villamor said data from the Bohol Tourism Office showed that the province recorded 1.4 million tourist arrivals in 2024, including 870,956 domestic visitors, 495,845 foreign tourists, and 3,144 overseas Filipino workers. However, only 400,880 tourists were recorded as of the third quarter of 2025.

‘Tourism is not just about beaches, hills, or tarsiers. It is about livelihoods, dignity, and hope for every Boholano family,’ Villamor said.

She reported that some resort workers have been placed on rotating unpaid leave due to low bookings and fewer flights to key destinations. The slowdown, she said, is also affecting tricycle drivers, tour guides, farmers, fishers, and other local suppliers who depend on tourism for their livelihood.

Villamor cited high inflation, expensive airfare, weakening foreign currencies, and geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific region as factors contributing to the decline. She added that Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia are aggressively marketing cheaper travel packages with better flight connectivity, making them more attractive to travelers.

Villamor proposed the holding of a Bohol Tourism Summit to gather national agencies, airlines, resort owners, transport groups, and community representatives in crafting a unified recovery strategy.

Gelena Asis Dimpas, Department of Tourism assistant regional director, also urged industry players to diversify Bohol’s tourism offerings beyond beaches, the Chocolate Hills, and tarsiers.

Speaking at the Tourism Business Forum organized by the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry last October, Dimpas said expanding tourism inland and upland through agritourism, heritage trails, forest wellness activities, and faith-based routes can benefit communities and protect the province’s cultural and natural resources

Loisa Andalio and Ronnie Alonte are ready to spend the rest of their lives together, as Andalio announced that she is already engaged to her longtime partner.

Andalio confirmed her engagement to Alonte in an Instagram post on Friday, Nov. 21, where she showed a closer look at her engagement ring with an oval-shaped diamond while hugging their dog.

The celebrity pair received congratulatory messages from their followers in the comments, including from stars like Alexa Ilacad, Charlie Dizon, Heaven Peralejo, Vickie Rushton, Jane De Leon, and Elisse Joson.

Neither Andalio nor Alonte, however, confirmed or denied if they are indeed expecting their first child, as of this writing. Earlier this month, entertainment insider Ogie Diaz claimed that the actress is already pregnant on his vlog.

The couple has been in a relationship for eight years, with Andalio declaring Alonte as her ‘the one’ in a July 2023 interview.

The actor also revealed that he was unfaithful to his partner ‘a number of times’ in the past and they had to stop seeing each other for the time being to heal. They eventually got back together later on. cb

As executive secretary in the Marcos administration, Lucas Bersamin was primus inter pares in the Cabinet, given the mandate of his office – ‘to directly assist the President in the management of affairs of the government as well as to direct the operations of the Executive Office.’

He was the ‘Little President,’ serving as gatekeeper, chief lieutenant, and main implementer of his boss’ directives – the majordomo of the house, so to speak.

That was just days ago, when Bersamin was seemingly safely ensconced in his Palace seat, the President’s trust in him never previously brought up as having become precarious. In September, former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo had alleged that Bersamin was among several government officials who received kickbacks from flood control projects.

The whirlwind of scandal that President Marcos had triggered with his original tirade in his State of the Nation Address against corrupt private contractors and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials had now reached the Palace walls, and its official caretaker was being swept up in the gale.

But Bersamin quickly issued a categorical denial, insisting on his ‘untarnished record as a long-serving public servant,’ and the accusation became stale news soon enough as bigger bombshells hogged the headlines.

Most corrupt

Then came former Ako Bicol party list Rep. Zaldy Co, finally breaking his silence after becoming a fugitive rather than returning to the country to explain his part in the billions of pesos said to have been mishandled when he was appropriations chief at the Lower House.

Before this, the useful narrative for the administration was that various lawmakers in cahoots with rogue DPWH officials and private contractors had been milking the public till dry with substandard or even ‘ghost’ projects.

But, according to Co, in the case of the 2025 budget that had been decried by quarters as the most corrupt in the nation’s history, the scheme began in Malacañang – and that the hated budget ‘insertions’ that became kickbacks down the road led back to the President himself.

Co said that in late 2024, he got a call from Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman informing him that Mr. Marcos allegedly wanted P100 billion worth of insertions in the 2025 budget, and that he could verify the directive with Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin – a grandnephew of the executive secretary.

The Palace promptly slammed Co’s allegations as ‘pure hearsay’ and ‘a comedy series.’ But days later, the two Bersamins and Pangandaman resigned – ‘out of delicadeza,’ said Malacañang, ‘to allow the administration to address the matter appropriately.’

Time-honored practice

Taking the fall for one’s principal is a time-honored practice in politics, allowing the top guy to shift blame toward underlings and saving the putative larger project from ruin. Bersamin and Pangandaman’s quick recourse to it appeared to be an honorable gesture, and one quite rare since many public officials in this country would rather cling to power brazenly than quit amid allegations of impropriety.

Except – Bersamin, it turned out, didn’t quit. He was simply told, and not even by his boss, that he had to go. Per Bersamin, that fateful call did not come from Malacañang but from ‘a very close friend,’ which sent him packing and informing the President ‘by text that I had no problem exiting.’

What a bungling state of affairs this reveals about the Palace – and one that Bersamin himself had a direct hand in, since he was its chief caretaker from the beginning. If Sen. Panfilo Lacson is right – that the kickbacks from the alleged P100-billion insertions went to two Palace underlings, Bersamin’s controversial grandnephew and Education Undersecretary Trygve Olaivar, both of whom ‘misrepresented’ the President, according to Lacson – then blame for that environment of corruption and wrongdoing right in the seat of power must be laid at the feet of Bersamin, who was supposed to oversee everything in that house.

Implement a reset

Whether he resigned voluntarily or was forced out, Bersamin had to go one way or the other, to give the Marcos administration the opportunity to clean house and implement a reset. Which is exactly what it needs at this point.

As the political uncertainties mount over the massive flood-control projects scandal shaking up the country, the economy is taking a hit and business confidence is listing hard. It’s paramount for the President to steady the ship by demonstrating that he is firmly in control, that he has answers and receipts against Co’s damning allegations, and that the people’s anger will amount to prompt and proper punishment for the plunderers and criminals in public office.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) should explain to taxpayers about the wastage of funds poured into a major dam project in Tarlac province, which remains unfinished despite receiving P7.006 billion from 2015 to 2020 alone, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson.

On Thursday, Lacson expressed this concern about the status of the Tarlac Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project (TBBMP) during the interpellation of the proposed 2026 budget of the NIA, recalling that he raised similar questions about the project five years ago.

‘We should take this up not just in the budget deliberations. I think we should focus on the delayed projects and obvious wastage of public funds, particularly in the Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project,’ he said.

The senator noted that for Balog-Balog’s Phase 2 alone, some P7.006 billion had been appropriated from 2015 to 2020.

In 2017, the second phase of the TBBMP began construction and was initially expected to be completed before the end of then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.

However, in 2019, the NIA requested an extension for the construction until 2022, citing delays caused by poor weather conditions, resettlement challenges, and right-of-way issues. The project’s second phase was initially set for completion in 2018.

In November 2020, Lacson noted a comparison of images of the project as of September 2019 and his staff’s inspection in November 2020, showing virtually no change.

He added that in 2018, the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged Balog-Balog’s five contracts as accounting for P7.7 billion, or 37 percent of P20.7 billion worth of delayed projects nationwide, one of the highest aggregate contract costs among delayed NIA projects.

‘I think the NIA has a lot of explaining to do. In the Balog-Balog project’s case alone, there seem to be a lot of anomalies,’ Lacson said.

Fund allocation

Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, who raised the issue in his interpellation of the NIA budget Thursday, noted that the NIA had always requested maintenance and repair of the Balog-Balog project.

‘[The] NIA is regularly requesting for P261 million yearly, until the past year it was the same. That’s why I believe that the data you mentioned were correct,’ said Marcoleta, who proposed that a review be undertaken of the project.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, finance subcommittee chair and sponsor of the NIA’s proposed budget, said they would monitor the review proposed by Marcoleta to determine the way forward.

In 2023, Sen. Raffy Tulfo demanded the list of contractors involved with the TBBMP.

Tulfo said the NIA had originally proposed implementing the project in two phases as early as 1992. Phase 1 covers 12,475 hectares, while Phase 2 was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda, now the Department of Economy, Planning and Development, or DepDev) only in 2015.

Between 2013 and 2022, the national government allocated billions of pesos for the project’s completion to provide year-round irrigation to 34,410 ha of agricultural land across 10 towns in Tarlac, benefiting about 23,000 farmers. Yet, Tulfo lamented that only about 20 percent of the work had been accomplished.

In response, Eduardo Guillen, who was serving as acting administrator of the NIA at that time, explained that the project’s previous contractor had terminated its contract and the agency was coordinating with Neda regarding changes in the project’s scope and its eventual resumption.

‘Our target is to rebuild this soon, probably around October,’ Guillen said in 2023, adding that the remaining P6.1-billion budget was expected to be sufficient to complete the project by its new target in 2027.

Proposed in 1963

The megadam is also expected to reduce flooding in low-lying areas, support inland fish production, and generate 43.5 megawatts of electricity through its hydropower component. The project is further projected to increase cropping intensity from 124 percent to 200 percent, directly improving crop yields and farmers’ incomes.

The TBBMP dam was first proposed in 1963 by the late Sen. Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr., then serving as Tarlac governor, and later revived during the administration of his wife, the late President Corazon Aquino, in 1986.

However, the plan was shelved after the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo caused massive mudflows throughout Tarlac. More than two decades later, the project was revived under their son, the late former President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III, but again encountered delays in 2015 due to insufficient funding