Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo attended Wednesday, October 1, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) hearing on alleged flood-control irregularities.

Bernardo arrived at the ICI office about 10 a.m. Wednesday to testify as a resource person but declined to comment to the media.

Last week, in his testimony before the Senate blue ribbon committee, Bernardo alleged that Senator Francis Escudero and former Senators Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. and Nancy Binay received kickbacks from allocations for public works projects.

He also named Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, whose P4.7-billion in air assets were recently ordered frozen by the government.

Co resigned as a member of the House of Representatives on Sept. 30./cb

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday called on Filipinos to support and nurture the country’s artists as he officially reopened the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) after six months of renovation.

‘As we reopen the doors of the PICC, let us also open ourselves to a greater challenge: to create, to imagine, and to contribute,’ Marcos said in his speech.

‘Support our artists-our painters, our musicians, our performers. For in their creativity, we find not only beauty, but the very soul of our nation. And beyond appreciation, let us take part in that creation ourselves,’ he added.

Marcos urged Filipinos to ensure that the PICC would remain ‘a testament to the artistry, ingenuity, and passion of the Filipino people.’

‘Let it inspire us to carry forward our heritage, so that decades from now, our children, our grandchildren will still look at this place with pride, saying: This is who we are. This is what we can achieve,’ he said. The President was accompanied by First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos and former First Lady Imelda Marcos, as well as other officials, during the reopening.

In encouraging Filipinos to embrace creativity, Marcos said artistic expression can be found in many forms, including ‘a short reflection written in a notebook, a song hummed at the end of a long day, a painting done by a child, or even a simple story shared with the family.’

‘Every act of creation-no matter how small-is an act of courage. It is an act of hope,’ he said.

Marcos also highlighted the role of the PICC as a cultural venue that embodies the resilience of creativity.

‘If the PICC has shown us anything, it is this: That creativity, when nurtured, endures. That artistry, when given space, inspires. And that every Filipino, no matter who or where they are, can bring light, meaning, and beauty to the world,’ the President said.

Residents of Masbate are in need of cash to purchase basic commodities and rehabilitate their communities a week after Typhoon Opong (international name: Bualoi) wiped out the province. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made the assessment on Wednesday during his visit to Masbate City, where he led the distribution of food packs, medicine, and cash aid, to the affected families. ‘I think we have managed to address most of the problems [in Masbate]. But the biggest issue that still needs our attention is the shortage of cash,’ the President told reporters at Nursery Elementary School, which serves as an evacuation center for Masbate City residents. ‘People cannot withdraw their own money because the banks are closed, since there is no electricity, and no internet,’ he added. The President said he had discussed the problem with Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, and the possible immediate solution was ‘to bring large amounts of cash’ to Masbate.

According to the President, he received reports that Masbate residents would withdraw money in as far as Legazpi City in Albay in mainland Bicol Region, or in nearby provinces in the Visayas. Only two branches of the Land Bank of the Philippines are open in the province, but they are in Masbate City and in Cataingan town, which is more than 70 kilometers away or a two-hour travel from the capital. ‘People are going to different places just to borrow money. But no one can loan them because of the situation,’ he said. ‘It’s a problem that we are going to have to solve very, very quickly,’ Marcos added.

‘It is very inconvenient for the people, but we will work on improving the situation as soon as possible.’ Masbate, which is under a state of calamity, was one of the hard-hit areas in Luzon and the Visayas during the onslaught of Opong, which made successive landfalls in the town of Palanas and Milagros on Sept. 26. The Department of Energy (DOE) earlier said that about P400 million will be needed to restore the electricity services in the province. Most of the towns were still struggling with power outages and limited communication lines. According to the DOE, various electric cooperatives nationwide have been arriving in Masbate to speed up restoration efforts of Masbate Electric Cooperative Inc. (Maselco), the province’s energy distributor.

Starting Wednesday, Oct. 1, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) adopted InstaPay for all its inter-institution cash-in transactions for a P15 fee as part of efforts to enhance interoperability of digital financial services in the country.

The Ayala-backed bank said the standard service fee would also apply to transfers to affiliate e-wallet platform GCash.

‘This transition ensures compliance with regulatory standards while continuing to offer customers flexible and affordable ways to manage their finances,’ BPI said in a statement. Standard fee

BPI earlier implemented the same fee for ShopeePay and SeaBank. This will likewise apply to other applications as they comply with a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas directive.

Currently, fund transfers made to GCash via the BPI app carry a P10 fee, although select customer segments and merchant payments enjoy free transfers.

Meanwhile, clients with BPI #MySaveUp accounts in GCash also benefit from zero fees for funds transferred from the BPI app to GSave.

Credit-led fintech Salmon Group Ltd. has raised $50 million from its latest Nordic bond issuance, a deal seen to accelerate its aspiration to build ‘Southeast Asia’s next-generation consumer banking.’

This latest debt offering follows the $60-million inaugural bond issue in April 2025. This brings Salmon’s total bond financing to $110 million under its $150-million Nordic bond framework.

Strong demand from global fixed income investors made the issue oversubscribed by two times the original offer, the fintech said.

Salmon cofounder Raffy Montemayor said: ‘We are opening a new chapter for Philippine financial services built on innovation, inclusion and trust. As the Philippines stands at the heart of Southeast Asia’s growth story, with its young consumer base, strong regulators and digital-first mindset, we see tremendous opportunity to reshape the industry.’ Out to scale faster

‘Through Salmon Bank and Sunprime Finance, we are proud to lead this transformation by offering products that meet the everyday needs of Filipinos, including credit lines, cards, consumer and moto loans, and now high-yield deposits,’ Montemayor said.

The group operates through its financing company and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-regulated Salmon Bank (Rural Bank) Inc., formerly known as Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna) Inc.

Montemayor said the successful bond issuance validated international investors’ confidence in both the Philippines and Salmon’s long-term vision.

‘With this new funding, we are poised to scale faster, bring world-class financial services closer to millions of Filipino families, and redefine what banking can mean in our region,’ added Montemayor.

Pareto Securities acted as the sole bookrunner and underwriter on the transaction. Explainer: Nordic bond?

According to a leveraged finance publication issued by Baker McKenzie’s Stockholm office, Nordic bond offering is an efficient and low-cost debt financing option. It benefits issuers by giving them an alternative form of financing while also rewarding investors who are chasing attractive yields in instruments that offer some level of liquidity.

However, Nordic bonds require no credit rating and limited disclosure, which also means that less information is made available to investors and no meaningful vetting of the issuer and its business is conducted, the publication said.

Vice President Sara Duterte is in Cebu until October 2 to visit communities affected by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit the province, her office announced Wednesday night. ‘Vice President Sara Z. Duterte is currently in Cebu province to extend her sympathies to those affected by the earthquake,’ the Office of the Vice President (OVP) said in an advisory.

The OVP said Duterte will remain in Cebu until Thursday to visit the areas affected by the tremor.

In a separate video statement, Duterte offered her condolences to the families affected by the quake, urging them not to lose faith despite the hardship they experienced.

‘I know that the pain you feel and the hardships you now face are beyond measure. Yet, in the midst of the destruction left by this tragedy in your families and communities, may you never lose faith and hope,’ Duterte said in Bisaya.

‘May you become sources of strength, kindness, and inspiration to all,’ she added.

She then extended her prayers to the communities in Cebu and nearby provinces, hoping for their safety and enduring resilience amid the continued aftershocks being experienced in the area.

‘May you find strength in one another, and may the legendary Visayan warmth and resilience shine through amidst this deep sorrow,’ she said.

Duterte went to Cebu after she ordered the OVP’s satellite offices to provide assistance to those affected by the earthquake.

Her trip also coincides with the House of Representatives’ plenary debates for the OVP’s proposed budget for 2026, which was postponed for the second time until Thursday after she – or an official of the appropriate level – failed to appear before the plenary. House Deputy Majority Leader Arnan Panaligan earlier said that tomorrow is the last chance for the OVP to defend its proposed budget as Thursday is the House’s last day for its plenary debates.

The provincial government of Bohol is extending assistance to Cebu following the deadly 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck the province Tuesday night.

Governor Aris Aumentado announced that the province is sending P5 million in financial aid, along with a team of 16 medical and rescue personnel, two ambulances, and a rescue vehicle to help quake-hit areas in Cebu. The team is scheduled to leave Bohol at 1:30 p.m. today.

‘This is our help for Cebu. Our team will be heading there this afternoon,’ Aumentado said after presiding over an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning with local agencies to assess the situation. While Cebu bore the brunt of the earthquake, Bohol sustained minimal damage. Some school buildings in Sevilla, Balilihan, Ubay, Bien Unido, and Guindulman reported minor cracks that were deemed non-hazardous.

Hospitals across the province remain fully operational.

At the Gov. Celestino Gallares Medical Center in Tagbilaran City, 87 patients were briefly evacuated Tuesday night as a precaution, but they were later returned indoors after engineers cleared the hospital building as safe. Road networks remain passable, except for two bridges in Dauis town. The Castel Bridge is open only to light vehicles, while the Borja Bridge is operating on a single-lane basis due to structural concerns. The tremor, which struck at 9:59 p.m., caused a temporary power outage across Bohol and sent residents rushing to the streets in panic.

Classes and government work in the province were suspended on Wednesday to allow safety inspections of public infrastructure./coa

The Philippine government’s debt burden eased in August after it settled its largest local bond of the year. This gives policymakers some breathing room in managing public finances.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed total obligations stood at P17.47 trillion. This was a decrease of 0.5 percent or P95 billion from July’s level.

Still, borrowings have surged 8.8 percent or P1.42 trillion since the start of the year.

The Treasury said it fully repaid P516.34 billion in maturing peso bonds last month, reducing the debt pile. A stronger local currency also helped, reducing the peso value of foreign-denominated obligations.

Broken down, domestic debt edged down 0.2 percent to P12.09 trillion in August.

Local creditors

The government repaid billions owed to local creditors during the month. But it also raised P425 billion through retail Treasury bonds maturing in 2030. These were made available on the e-wallet platform GCash.

The mammoth fundraising activity nudged the share of domestic debt to total obligations to 69.2 percent from 68.9 percent. This indicates a ‘generally more favorable debt position, given that domestic debt is less vulnerable to shifts in foreign exchange movements,’ the Treasury said.

‘In addition, domestic borrowing is largely owed to Filipinos themselves, providing a safe and secure investment vehicle for wealth growth while also ensuring that the money circulates back into the local economy,’ it added.

External debts, meanwhile, edged down by 1.4 percent, or P73.68 billion, to P5.38 trillion.

The government had to continue borrowing money from lenders to plug a projected budget deficit of P1.6 trillion. This is equivalent to 5.5 percent of gross domestic product. The drive was expected to push the debt stock to P17.36 trillion by year’s end.

Exposure

Fiscal planners say they will continue to favor onshore borrowing to limit exposure to foreign exchange risks.

The Marcos administration has also made clear it is seeking an upgrade to an A-level credit rating. This is a distinction it hopes to achieve by keeping debt metrics in check while sustaining economic growth.

‘The Bureau reaffirmed its commitment to prudent debt management and responsible borrowing, ensuring that financing activities remain aligned with the country’s high and inclusive growth agenda, while safeguarding the welfare of future generations of Filipinos,’ the Treasury said. INQ

Jared Bahay is well aware of the many big shoes that he has to fill as far as crack guards ever to have come out of Ateneo under the revered Tab Baldwin go.

From the likes of Tyler Tio, Gian Mamuyac, SJ Belangel and Thirdy Ravena, Baldwin has given his Midas Touch on them that they not only led the Blue Eagles to glorious UAAP paths but have become established professional players here or elsewhere.

All four were in the undefeated Season 82 team that won the championship. And Bahay remembers seeing clips of that squad while he was still in high school.

‘It gives me motivation,’ Bahay told the Inquirer recently. ‘I believe in our saying that ‘in Tab we trust.’ I feel motivated that I’m under him. He can not only make me a great basketball player, but a good person in general.’

Jared has happy home

Fast forward to six years and Bahay has found a home in Katipunan.

‘I love coach Tab. He has a history and reputation of winning,’ Bahay said. ‘I remember watching them go 16-0 and I got so inspired. I worked so hard and told myself I want to be a part of [a] team [like that].

‘Dreams do come true,’ he said. ‘I’m here now and I’m so happy.’

Baldwin, meanwhile, knows that he has another rough talent he can whip into a gem along with Kymani Ladi, a dynamic 6-foot-8 forward who is also a big reason why the Blue Eagles are leading the pack with a 3-0 record.

‘He has a lot of information that he’s willing to share and we’re willing to take them,’ Ladi said. ‘He has a lot of knowledge that we definitely use.

Baldwin has so far won 101 games in his UAAP career, fourth on the all-time list where only La Salle’s Franz Pumaren, late Santo Tomas mentor Aric del Rosario and ex-Ateneo tactician Norman Black have more victories.

He is on track to unseat Black at No. 3 if his streak continues for the rest of the year.

But knowing Baldwin, he doesn’t really give a care on personal accomplishments. He is a team-first guy and rarely takes the credit. And the biggest thing about him is he wants his charges to become better men after being under him. INQ

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr. was himself taken aback by the magnitude of corruption involving flood control projects, which have further blackened the already tarnished reputation of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

‘The sight of piles of cash on a table, that’s kind of shocking,’ Remolona said in a One News interview last week, ‘I didn’t know this was all done in cash, in such amounts. That is shocking.’

What is more alarming, however, is that government financial institutions may have become conduits for the staggering amounts of kickbacks that have found their way into the pockets of a network of public officials and contractors who have allegedly made milking cows out of flood control projects.

Valid concerns have thus been raised that banking and finance regulators have been sleeping on their crucial jobs, enabling these questionable transactions to push through, not just once but several times this year alone, as revealed by Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson.

Lacson revealed last week that, based on ledgers acquired from the implicated flood control project contractor SYMS Construction Trading, contractor Sally Santos was able to withdraw P457 million in cash from the Malolos Highway branch of Land Bank of the Philippines over two days, with the money allegedly delivered as kickbacks to the office of former Bulacan district engineer Brice Hernandez.

‘There are many here, including withdrawals of P180 million, P141 million, P299 million, and P65 million-all made in a single day,’ added Lacson.

This begs the question: How was this allowed to happen?

Red flags

As Sen. Francis Pangilinan asked Landbank Malolos Highway branch manager Ma. Lilibeth Lim, ‘Is it normal practice for a bank to release P457 million in cash? Isn’t that a red flag, and shouldn’t it be reported?’ Because as it stands, there are fears that the banking system has been ‘complicit in this type of corruption.’

But apparently, for Landbank, there was no reason to suspect any wrongdoing. The legitimacy of the source as well as the purpose of the funds were ‘fully established and documented,’ and that as a matter of policy, all funds above P500,000 are automatically reported as covered transactions to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) for its review and assessment.

That said, in light of the revelations that the money allegedly went to anomalous flood control projects, Landbank said that policies and measures will be updated ‘to ensure we remain robust and responsive to issues and the call of the times.’

Cash withdrawal limit

The BSP has also issued a circular limiting daily over-the-counter cash withdrawals to P500,000 so that transactions above this threshold are carried out through checks, fund transfers, or other digital channels to create an audit trail.

Sanctions will be imposed on banks and financial institutions found complicit in the web of corruption that has ensnared the DPWH.

BSP Deputy Governor Lyn Havier, who heads the BSP unit overseeing banks, added that the central bank was ‘closely scrutinizing’ possible weaknesses in banks’ antimoney laundering systems, particularly in transaction monitoring, customer due diligence, and compliance with reporting obligations and that ‘any deficiencies will be addressed decisively.’

The BSP has also already kicked off an inquiry into the bank accounts of individuals linked to corruption in government-funded flood control projects, at the request of DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon.

This is the first test of the newly enacted Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act, which is meant to crack down on money muling activities or the use of financial accounts to move or hide criminal proceeds.

Questionable accounts

Under this law, bank secrecy and data privacy protections can be set aside to allow regulators to scrutinize questionable accounts and use any findings in criminal prosecutions.

The AMLC also assured the public that it remains ‘committed to upholding the integrity of the financial system and ensuring that all covered entities adhere to their legal obligations in the fight against money laundering.’

The AMLC has so far issued more than 700 freeze orders covering bank accounts, insurance policies, and other assets of individuals linked to the alleged scheme, and it is just getting started.

That the regulatory bodies are just now stepping up their actions seems too little, too late, as billions have already exchanged hands, the extent of which is still yet to be fully uncovered. But they can make up for lost time and work double time on their investigations that should end with people being brought to justice. At the same time, given the extent of the ‘shocking’ corruption, regulators should pursue their mandate with renewed vigor to finally cure the Philippines of this festering disease.