Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Some 80 meters of the road network that directly links Arakan town in Cotabato province to Davao City had been badly damaged by the torrential rains brought about by typhoons Tino and Uwan, prompting authorities to shut the road down to all types of vehicles, including motorcycles, since Monday.

Leonardo Reovoca, Arakan information officer, told the Inquirer that the 2nd Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC) of Arakan town had to shut down the highway on Monday to prevent accidents or loss of lives.

‘This is a precautionary measure while efforts are underway to repair the damaged road network so that agricultural goods can be transported again and the people from Arakan can use the road again in going to Davao city,’ he said.

Despite the road signage and reminders, however, motorcycle drivers still attempt to cross, risking life and limb.

Torrential rains brought about by typhoon Tino and Super typhoon Uwan had loosened the soil at Sitio Pormon, a subvillage between Barangays Salasang and Katipunan of Arakan town, resulting in cracks and landslides.

The road, which spans 18 kilometers, has been the shortest route from Arakan town to Davao City, and farmers have been using it to bring their farm produce to the city.

Although the cracks were first noted on October 21, prompting DPWH to release its first warning to motorists, it was on Monday, when the cracks worsened following the rains brought by Supertyphoon Uwan.

Motorists, commuters, and traders have asked the DPWH in Cotabato province to prioritize its repair as its closure hampered the flow of goods and services in the area.

On October 21, DPWH put up signage in the area, reminding motorists to take extra care in passing through the road due to cracks on the pavement. Even then, DPWH no longer allowed cargo trucks and heavy equipment, but only motorcycles and light cars to pass through the road.

‘This is something unusual because the soil under the concrete pavement has been slowly eroding, destroying the concrete road,’ Reovoca said.

Repeated rains triggered by the prevailing low-pressure area in the province in the previous weeks and the onslaught of the two typhoons worsened the soil erosion and led to the landslides in Sitio Pormon.

Reovoca said that aside from the treacherous cracks noted on some 80-meter span of the highway, landslides also destroyed about one hectare of farm planted to banana and durian trees in nearby Sitio Sinai.

He likened the landslides in Sitio Sinai to the October 18 landslides that cut the national highway in Palacapao, Quezon town of Bukidnon.

He said that even the retaining walls along the road showed cracks as if an earthquake or major ground shaking had occurred.

Reovoca said there were two alternate routes to the Bukidnon-Davao (Buda) highway, but these alternate routes were longer by about 50 to 60 kilometers, prompting the local government of Arakan to ask DPWH to prioritize the repair of the damaged road or establish another route so that the movement of goods and people would not suffer

Contractors Cezarah ‘Sarah’ and Pacifico ‘Curelee’ Discaya were excused from Friday’s Senate panel probe so they could obtain proof that several lawmakers received kickbacks from flood control projects.

Senate blue ribbon committee chair Panfilo Lacson excused the contractor couple, but said they should be back ‘within the day.’

‘Upon the advice of my lawyers, Okay, there is no problem,’ Mr. Discaya said, adding a caveat that they could not submit everything, but Lacson said they could submit whatever’s available.

‘Your lawyers already allowed that the Senate security will accompany you, and you will return to bring the document, ledger that proves or supports your sworn statement that there are congressmen who received from you, that is clear?’ Lacson said.

‘Not only congressmen, but also Usec,’ Mr. Discaya replied.

Moments prior, Sen. Risa Hontiveros also requested the committee to order the couple to submit all of the list of projects and the joint venture agreements of all their companies including St. Gerrard and Alpha and Omega during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

‘I just wish to reiterate that by obtaining and submitting the ledger in this committee, it should be included explicitly in the list of projects from 2016 to 2022,’ Hontiveros said.

‘I request the chair to include explicitly in his ruling regarding Ms. Discaya a reiteration of this request for them to submit the list of projects with DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), with joint venture agreements of all their companies-St. Gerrard, Alpha and Omega, and others-from the years of 2016 to 2022,’ she continued, partly in Filipino.

It can be recalled that the Discaya couple told the Independent Commission on Infrastructure that they would no longer cooperate in the fact-finding body’s investigation, with Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla saying that they could be protecting Sen. Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, who is also the former special assistant to the president under Duterte.

Also moments before their exit, Sen. JV Ejercito also urged the couple to submit text messages as additional evidence.

‘The news we’ve heard is, the ones Mr. Discaya identified are those who did not return – perhaps you have text messages that you can show us to our chair and members of the committee,’ Ejercito said in Filipino.

In September, Mr. Discaya named lawmakers and DPWH officials who allegedly solicited money from his firm after it won a government project bidding.

The northeast monsoon, or ‘amihan,’ and the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) are expected to bring cloudy skies and isolated showers to many parts of the country on Friday, the state weather bureau said.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its early morning update that the northeast monsoon is expected to trigger light rain in extreme northern Luzon, particularly on the Batanes and Babuyan Islands.

Meanwhile, the ITCZ, or the line where winds from the northern and southern hemispheres meet, is forecast to cause cloudy skies with a high chance of rain in Palawan, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

‘So ating pinag-iingat ang ating mga kababayan especially sa mga low-lying areas o mabababang lugar sa mga posibilidad ng pagbaha,’ Pagasa weather specialist Loriedin De La Cruz-Galicia said.

(Those living in low-lying areas should watch out for possible flooding.)

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies and possible isolated rain, especially in the afternoon and evening, are expected in Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

Rough seas on Batanes, Babuyan Islands

Galicia also reported that a gale warning was raised for the Batanes and Babuyan Islands because of expected rough to very rough sea conditions caused by the ‘amihan.’

‘Hindi muna pinapayuhang pumalaot ang maliliit na sasakyang pandagat doon especially po sa araw na ito,’ said De La Cruz-Galicia.

(Small vessels are not advised to venture out to sea today.)

Former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson is set to attend the upcoming three-day Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) rally next week, but he clarified that he will not ‘instigate’ or be involved in any efforts to destabilize the government.

In a forum in Quezon City on Friday, Singson assured the public that it would be a ‘peaceful’ rally.

‘Ah, I will speak about graft and corruption. But I will not instigate what they call the destabilization of the government or revolutionary governance. I will not talk about that,’ the former governor said.

‘It will be a peaceful rally; we will just tell the truth there,’ he added.

Reports linking Singson to an alleged plot to unseat President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stemmed from claims posted by columnist Ramon ‘Mon’ Tulfo on social media last November 10.

In a Facebook post, Tulfo claimed that Vice President Sara Duterte, Davao City Rep. Paolo ‘Pulong’ Duterte, and Singson were among the ‘possible financiers’ of the alleged destabilization campaign.

However, Tulfo provided no evidence to support his claims and refused to disclose the source of his information.

The following day, Palace press officer Claire Castro said Tulfo’s claim had already reached the Armed Forces of the Philippines and had been relayed to the intelligence community for ‘monitoring and verification.’

During the same forum, Singson also said it would be better for Marcos to step down.

‘That’s more honorable, he should not wait for the people’s wrath,’ he added.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered the immediate repair of the seawall along Imelda Boulevard in Virac, Catanduanes after it was damaged by the onslaught of Super Typhoon Uwan.

Dizon said this as he inspected the seawall together with Catanduanes Governor Patrick Alain Azanza and other officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 7 on Friday.

According to Dizon, as the seawall will be repaired. Hexapods will also be installed in it as an additional protection, especially for residents near the sea.

‘The hexapods are concrete jackstones that look like large rocks that are found in other parts of the seawall,’ Dizon said in an interview released by the DPWH.

The DPWH chief noted that the damaged seawall did not have the hexapods.

Catanduanes is one of the provinces that was devastated by Super Typhoon Uwan, which hit the country this weekend.

For his part, Azanza told the Inquirer on Wednesday that over 25,000 houses were damaged due to the super typhoon, while 230,000 residents in the province’s 11 towns were affected.

A House of Representatives lawmaker who authored one of eight pending anti-political dynasty bills said he expects the measures to advance to the committee level by December or January, as lawmakers and watchdogs challenged Speaker Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy III to follow through on his pledge to prioritize the long-delayed reform.

Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores, author of House Bill No. 381, on Friday said the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms headed by Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong could tackle all eight bills in its next meeting and later form a technical working group to consolidate the measures.

He added that the process might ‘not take long because the eight bills have many common and similar provisions,’ particularly on the limitations set for a political dynasty.

The majority of the bills, including Flores’, seek to define political dynasties up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity.

This is in contrast with the Makabayan bloc’s HB 209 and 4784, which seeks to prohibit relatives within the fourth civil degree from simultaneously holding or running for elective office.

The Akbayan bloc, composed of Reps. Perci Cendaña, Chel Diokno, Dadah Kiram Ismula, and Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene Bag-ao also recently filed their own version – also seeking a ban up to the fourth degree – a day after Dy told his colleagues to push for this measure to help restore trust in government.

Flores said limiting dynasties up to the second degree set the most ‘pragmatic prohibition scenarios’ and expressed hope that his bill as well as that of Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima’s House Bill No. 2131 would ‘serve as the working documents for the consolidation process.’

‘I hope the TWG will be able to report out the substitute bill and that the committee will approve it before we go on year-end break at the earliest or by January when we return,’ he added.

Dy’s call for the passage of an anti-dynasty law has placed pressure on both chambers of Congress, which have long been dominated by entrenched political families.

Calls for an anti-dynasty law have intensified as the Marcos administration continues to grapple with the fallout from a flood control scandal that has implicated several House members, including former Speaker Martin Romualdez, scion of a powerful political clan.

A United Nations Development Programme report found that political families dominate 72 out of 77 provinces studied, or 94 percent, with an average of 2.31 political clans per province.

‘We remain deeply skeptical. History has shown us that political dynasties themselves have repeatedly blocked genuine reform,’ the Makabayan bloc composed of ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co said in a statement.

‘Besides, the Marcos and Duterte dynasties are some of the worst iterations of a political dynasty in the Philippines, and they too will become stumbling blocks to these bills,’ it added.

Government contractor Pacifico ‘Curlee’ Discaya on Friday named several incumbent and former House members on his payoff ledger.

Discaya bared the contents of this ledger during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing.

The contractor named in his payoff ledger Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, Quezon City 4th District Rep. Marvin Rillo, Caloocan 3rd District Rep. Dean Asistio, Quezon City 5th District Rep. Patrick Michael Vargas, Quezon City 6th District Rep. Marvin Co-Pilar and Uswag Ilonggo party-list Rep. Jojo Ang.

Also named by Discaya were former Undersecretary Terence Calatrava of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas and former Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.

These individuals were among the 17 personalities already accused by Discaya of allegedly soliciting money from them after they won in a government project bid.

All of the lawmakers and Calatrava denied the accusation of Discaya.

Bernardo, who is also in the hearing to testify and implicate senators in the kickback scandal, was also asked to react on Discaya’s ledger which mentioned him.

The former undersecretary, citing Discaya’s testimony, said that the alleged payoff was given to Manny Bulusan of the DPWH-North Manila District Engineering Office and not to him.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian pressed Bernardo: ‘You are not denying that it came from Mr. Discaya, or you just don’t remember?’

‘I don’t remember,’ Bernardo replied.

‘You just need to check?’ Gatchalian asked, to which Bernardo answered in the affirmative.

This ledger is just partial since Discaya said he was not able to get them all when he was briefly released in detention on Friday, accompanied by Senate security to obtain the document in his residence.

Committee chairman Panfilo Lacson then told Discaya to obtain all of the ledgers which contained the names of all lawmakers he implicated in his previous testimony.

Discaya remains in Senate detention after being cited for contempt by Lacson on Sept. 18 for lying about the reason behind his wife Cezarah’s absence.

Lacson said he will write a request to Senate President Vicente Sotto III to allow Discaya to return to his residence and get all the documents needed.

‘We will allow you to go back. I will write to the Senate president as to when, but take everything you need and don’t go back and forth,’ Lacson said.

‘Maybe you just want to go home,’ the senator quipped.

‘That’s true, because I miss my children and my house,’ Discaya told the senator.

Former Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Elizaldy Co should return home and cooperate with investigations into infrastructure corruption and the alleged budget mess, Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said after the ex-lawmaker broke his silence and implicated key officials.

De Lima in a statement on Friday said that Co should testify under oath, so that his statements would be used in investigations and in courts.

Co in a video statement earlier claimed that key administration officials-particularly Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and Presidential Legislative Liason Office Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin-told him that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. allegedly ordered the placement of P100 million worth of insertions.

‘We urge former Rep. Zaldy Co to return to the country and fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation into the anomalous flood control and other infrastructure projects,’ de Lima said.

‘He should take an oath and tell the whole truth before the proper forum,’ she added.

The Makabayan bloc, composed of ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co, meanwhile, said that Marcos should explain himself and address the issues.

‘This testimony demolishes any pretense that Marcos Jr. is innocent or unaware of the corruption plaguing his administration. He is not merely complicit-he is the chief architect. The President personally approves the release of unprogrammed funds and directly orders billions in budget insertions. The buck stops with him,’ Makabayan said.

‘While we acknowledge that Zaldy Co’s testimony may be motivated by self-preservation after being made a scapegoat and charged while others enjoyed protection, this does not diminish the gravity of his revelations. The list of projects he included in his revelation should be investigated including the private contractors involved,’ they added.

According to Makabayan, Co’s revelation also confirms their suspicions that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was bloated despite the 1987 Constitution stating that the highest budget priority should be given to education.

‘The testimony reveals what we have long suspected: that the bloating of DPWH’s budget beyond even that of DepEd is not accidental but deliberate. When Zaldy Co stated that only P50 billion could realistically be inserted into programmed appropriations without making DPWH’s budget exceed DepEd (Department of Education), this was allegedly overruled by Malacañang because this was apparently already promised to the President,’ Makabayan said.

‘We note that Zaldy Co has yet to reveal Part 2 of his testimony, which allegedly involves the actual delivery of money to the residences of Marcos Jr. and Romualdez. This only deepens the imperative for a thorough and independent investigation,’ they added.

Co in the video statement said Pangandaman asked him in 2024 to confirm with Bersamin as to whether the President really ordered putting P100 billion worth of insertions in the 2025 General Appropriations Bill. After getting the confirmation, Co said he told former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez about this instruction.

According to Co, he believed that the orders came from Marcos because Bersamin said that the project was placed in a brown leather bag-which he remembered to be the same bag that Marcos spoke about when he, the President, and Romualdez returned from a trip to Singapore.

Co said that Marcos ordered the Presidential Security Command (PSC) to fetch the bag when it was left, with the Chief Executive saying that everything else can be left but not the brown leather bag.

After getting these confirmations, Co said he appealed to Pangandaman and Bersamin to just put half of the P100 billion to unprogrammed funds so that funds for DPWH would not exceed the allocation for DepEd. Co also said he is surprised as to why Marcos is saying that he cannot recognize the 2025 budget.

Questions have surrounded the 2025 budget ever since the budget bill was finalized by the bicameral conference committee. In January 2025, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab and his ally, former President Rodrigo Duterte both claimed that the budget was illegal since there were blanks in the bicam report that the House ratified.

Former Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, who was then the acting chairperson of the House committee on appropriations, said that the blank items in the bicam report had exact figures already, insisting that blanks were only left for final calculations.

Quimbo also said back then that it was the Senate committee on finance’s technical staff which prepared the bicam report on the General Appropriations Bill (GAB). Furthermore, Quimbo noted that the adjustments can be seen on the Senate’s committee report.

Co, meanwhile, is facing several issues regarding the 2025 national budget and the infrastructure project scandal.

At one of the Senate blue ribbon committee hearings, contractor-couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya named several lawmakers-including Co-who allegedly asked for and received kickbacks from infrastructure projects, after their firms were able to bag government contracts.

Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez, former officials of the Bulacan first district engineering office, tagged Co and other lawmakers as allegedly involved in the kickbacks scheme for infrastructure projects.

Co is also accused by Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco of mangling the 2025 budget, claiming that party-lists affiliated with Co received more than P4 billion worth of allocations from DPWH-P2.23 billion for Ako Bicol, P2.06 billion for Barangay Health Workers which is represented by her niece, former Rep. Natasha Co, and P13 billion under Elizaldy Co himself.

As early as August, Tiangco has been asking Co to reveal all the amendments made by the small committee for the 2025 budget, to show that the House leadership is truly serious about its push for reforms.

Security Bank Corp. saw its net profit rise by 7 percent to P9.1 billion as more clients obtained loans in the first nine months of this year.

The bank disclosed Friday that its total revenues also booked a 22-percent gain to P48.8 billion.

The lender’s net interest income jumped 15 percent to P37.2 billion. Net loans expanded by 8 percent to P672 billion, driven mainly by retail.

In the retail segment, home loans increase 15 percent, credit cards 27 percent and auto loans 42 percent.

Total deposits likewise rose 25 percent to P901 billion. INQ

Acting Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. has ordered the agency to trace the origins of bomb threats made against the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila campus.

The university received the threats on Thursday through an email to a UP Manila-Philippine General Hospital programmer, then through a text on an instant messaging app to a doctor there.

Police found no explosives in the school.

‘[Nartatez] has mobilized intelligence and cybercrime units to swiftly identify and pursue the individuals responsible for disseminating malicious bomb threats against the University of the Philippines Manila campus,’ the PNP said in a statement on Friday.

‘Nartatez also tasked all local police units to intensify security measures, including heightened visibility and immediate response protocols, to prevent any further disruption and secure the academic communities,’ it added.

In a statement later on Thursday, the UP Office of the Student Regent (OSR) questioned the timing of the bomb threats, citing upcoming protest actions to condemn government corruption and observe International Students Day.