Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

The Senate on Tuesday blasted the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for undertaking road projects before settling right-of-way (ROW) issues, which could waste billions of pesos in taxpayers’ money.

Sen. Erwin Tulfo, during the organizational meeting of the DPWH and other government agencies, also said that right-of-way issues are the usual cause for the delay in carrying on the country’s infrastructure projects.

‘Why do we start projects even if the ROW issues have not yet been resolved. when there are properties that may be affected by the project because of ROW issues? These issues should have already been addressed since we have the funds to settle this. But how come this is becoming the reason for projects to stop because of the fact that there are complainants? Shouldn’t we talk to the affected people or pay whoever the owners of these properties first?’ asked Tulfo.

DPWH Assistant Secretary Constante Llanes Jr. explained that among the implementation challenges in addressing ROW issues include the delays arising from limited ROW budget allocation, opposition from affected lot owners, and absentee and corporate land-ownership issues.

He said there were also deficiencies in claimant documentation, pending permits, expropriation proceedings, utility line obstructions and the resettlement of informal settlers.

Llanes said he strongly agrees with Tulfo that the ROW issues should be addressed first to prevent delays in infrastructure projects.

‘We strongly agree with what you mentioned, Mr. Chair, particularly for foreign-assisted projects, that is actually the principle. In fact, these are the requirements of the foreign funding institutions, Mr. Chair, that you have to come up with a resettlement action plan,’ he said.

‘For example, you have to compute everything and identify the payables before you proceed with the project and that’s a requirement, a matter of requirement. So all of this has to be taken care of and cleared first. But if we lack enough funds to pay these affected people, the properties, even the structures.that could be a reason for delay,’ he explained. /das

The mission is clear for Juan Gomez de Liaño in his rookie year with Converge.

The goal is to show the league what the FiberXers’ young core can do and he’s more than excited to get the ball rolling when Season 50 opens this Sunday at Araneta Coliseum.

‘I’m super excited. I feel like we really have a tough squad,’ he said during a launch party at BGC in Taguig on Monday night.

‘We’re a young group with a few vets. I can’t wait to get going with the boys and show the PBA what we’re capable of doing.’

So far in the preseason, Gomez de Liaño and company have shown promise.

Most recently, they beat the reigning champions of the Philippine Cup, San Miguel Beermen, 114-99, at Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong.

After taking down the Beermen, though, the State U product still thinks the team has a long way to go before reaching top form.

For one, the FiberXers are still in the process of getting accustomed to their new roster that also included changes in their coaching staff.

‘We’re just trying to get familiarized with each other and, pretty much, build chemistry before approaching the season but it’s been good so far.’

Philippines Airlines (PAL) keeps soaring higher, as it has just bagged a prestigious 4-Star Major Airline 2026 rating.

The flag carrier earned the award from the Airline Passenger Experience Association (Apex), a US-based air travel organization.

Airlines securing this status mean that they ‘consistently deliver excellence across critical touch points-cabin comfort, cleanliness, food and beverage, inflight entertainment, connectivity and customer service.’

Taking home the recognition is seen to boost PAL’s global credibility as well as cement its position against rivals.

‘Being recognized by APEX, the world’s leading airline industry association, is a significant milestone for Philippine Airlines,’ said Carlos Luis Fernandez, PAL executive vice president and chief operating officer.

‘We remain steadfast in sustaining the highest standards of service for the welfare of the passengers we serve across our global network,’ Fernandez added.

PAL also earlier clinched the 2025 Flyers’ Choice Award as the second most preferred airline in Southeast Asia.

The group flies to 31 destinations in the Philippines and 38 routes in Asia, North America, Australia and the Middle East. -Lisbet K. Esmael

DTI chief to lead Asean Ministers meeting

It’s official: the Philippines will host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic (Asean) Ministers in 2026.

Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque will assume the post of Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting chair, succeeding Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

In her speech, Roque emphasized the Philippines’ commitment to elevating the region’s economic growth and cooperation through AEM, which is responsible for advancing the region’s economic agenda.

‘Let me assure you that the Philippines will uphold the true spirit of Asean-fostering development, strengthening bonds and deepening friendship among its member countries,’ the trade chief said.

She added that the Philippines ‘is ready to take on the gavel with unwavering commitment and purpose,’ building on Malaysia’s momentum to lead the region.

Let’s hope that Roque can muster more energy to transform the newly issued Asean Community Vision 2045 into concrete opportunities to generate jobs, stimulate innovation and promote inclusive growth for businesses and people across the region.

Even without the AEM chairmanship, Roque already has a lot on her plate-from selling the Philippines as an investment destination to ironing out issues on contractor accreditation and licensing. -Jordeene B. Lagare

Salceda leads climate talks

As the government scrambles to address public rage over corruption among high-ranking officials, climate-related talks will be brewing elsewhere.

We’re talking about the Leaders in the Asia-Pacific for Building Ambitious Climate Momentum Toward COP30 that will be held on Wednesday in Bangkok, Thailand.

Former Albay Rep. Joey Salceda will lead the talks for the Philippines in his capacity as the former cochair of the United Nations Green Climate Fund and chair of the Institute for Risk and Strategic Studies Inc., or Salceda Research.

He is expected to stress the ‘right of developing countries to development, the need for expanded climate financing and the recognition of loss and damage as central to climate justice.’

This is a crucial development, especially since the Bangkok event is the first major regional platform in Southeast Asia to bring together lawmakers, experts and communities to specifically discuss climate solutions ahead of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties.

Let’s hope that this creates a ripple effect-and not another flood. -MEG J. ADONIS INQ

Gani Stevens and Rey Remogat couldn’t have exploded at a better time for the University of the Philippines in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.

The Fighting Maroons finally got over the hump after a 0-2 start after trouncing University of the East, 92-75, at Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

Interestingly, Stevens and Remogat throttled to a different gear against their former team.

The two said they didn’t have an ax to grind against UE.

‘He (Remogat) talked to me before the game but nothing like, ‘let’s go out there and show UE what we got.’ It was more of him telling us to play our game and execute. We know about the chemistry we have,’ Stevens told the Inquirer.

‘I have a lot of love for that school and community. They treated me so well in my first season with the UAAP. Moving on, it was a great team win and we knew we had to get a win today.’

Stevens, after struggling in the first two games, gave the defending champions a shot in the arm with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Remogat also regained his shooting touch, finishing with 21 points on top of seven rebounds and 11 assists after averaging just 2.5 points per game in the team’s first two outings.

Much like Stevens, though, Remogat also downplayed his duel with his former team.

‘There’s no added ‘gigil.’ We came from two straight losses. ‘Gigil,’ can bring good or bad things so I just focused on what I should do as a point guard,’ he said.

‘I didn’t use UE as a basis for me to play well because we believe that, as a champion team, everything starts in practice. We already have all the basis we need in practice.’ he added.

Filipino tennis sensation Alex Eala overcame a tough opening challenge from Katarzyna Kawa of Poland, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, in their rain-delayed round of 32 match at the WTA 125 Suzhou Open on Tuesday in China.

Rain suspended play for a few hours in the first set with the score knotted at 2-2 but that didn’t stop Eala from getting the headstart when the match resumed.

Eala’s hard-earned victory came just days after she fell to Lulu Sun of New Zealand in the semifinals of the Jingshan Tennis Open.

The 20-year-old Eala, seeded fourth in the tournament, advanced to face Greet Minnen in the round of 16 on Wednesday.

Minnen, 28, swept China’s Shi Han, 6-4, 6-0, in her opening match.

It’s been a hectic September for Eala, which began with a maiden WTA title win at the Guadalajara 125 Open.

The World No. 58 Eala then suffered a quarterfinal exit at the Sao Paolo Open before bowing out in the Jingshan Open semifinal on Saturday.

The proposed safeguard duty on cement imports is unlikely to raise prices but instead help safeguard the local industry against unfair competition, an industry group said.

‘The measure is needed to give local manufacturers a fair chance to compete against foreign suppliers that enjoy government support,’ the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines Inc. (CeMAP) said in a statement on Monday.

The group said this safeguard measure would keep the domestic cement manufacturing viable and protect local jobs.

‘It is of national interest to promote and protect the local cement industry against unfair competition from other countries. The Philippines’ [cement industry] is not subsidized,’ CeMAP executive director Rey Baja said.

Other groups, including the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Philippine Industries, have signified their strong support for imposing the safeguard duty.

To recall, in February, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) slapped a provisional safeguard duty of P400 per metric ton (MT), or P16 per 40-kilogram bag, on imported cement. This is good for 200 days from the date of issuance of the relevant Bureau of Customs order.

The cash bond was enforced after the DTI’s preliminary investigation discovered a ‘casual link’ between the increased imports of these cement types and serious injury to the local industry.

‘The increased volume of imports, both in absolute terms and relative to domestic production, was found to be the substantial cause of the overall impairment in the local industry,’ the DTI said in its Department Administrative Order No. 25-01 issued in February.

The Tariff Commission subsequently initiated an inquiry into the merits of imposing a definitive safeguard duty against importations of Ordinary Portland Cement and Blended Cement from various countries.

On top of existing tariffs

Under the Safeguard Measures Act, the state may impose safeguard measures on top of current tariffs in case increased imports cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the sector.

‘Since then, cement prices have stayed stable, with many local manufacturers keeping the market competitive,’ CeMAP said.

The group pointed out that the industry incurred P5 billion in losses as well as experienced slower operations and job cuts due to the entry of imported cement.

Cement imports stood at 7.6 million MT in 2024, mostly from Vietnam, even as the local industry has a total capacity of 51 million tons.

However, demand was only 35 million tons while actual production dropped to 27 million tons, meaning only 53 percent of the overall output capacity was used.

‘Industry leaders say the situation is unfair. Some Vietnamese cement companies are state-owned or receive government incentives that Filipino manufacturers do not get,’ CeMAP said.

‘This allows them to sell cement at very low prices, even when the Philippines already has enough supply,’ it added.

According to CeMAP, cement manufacturing contributes at least one percent to the country’s gross domestic product and supports about 130,000 direct and indirect jobs. INQ

A truck driver’s license was revoked on September 23, after an individual atop the cargo of his vehicle fell and died on July 23 in San Miguel, Iloilo, the Land Transportation (LTO) Office.

According to the LTO, the 22-year-old victim was the helper of the truck driver who was ‘seated on bamboo poles loaded onto a truck when he slipped on the rain-soaked cargo, fell, and sustained fatal head injuries.’

Though taken to a hospital, the helper was declared dead on arrival, the LTO reported.

‘The presence of a passenger atop unsecured cargo constitutes a clear breach of safety protocols and reflects a failure to exercise control and diligence,’ LTO-6 Regional Director, lawyer Gaudioso P. Geduspan II said in the resolution.

In response to the show-cause order issued to the truck driver on July 28, he claimed that the cargo was secured and he advised the victim to ride on the passenger seat, but the victim ‘insisted on staying atop the load while allegedly recording a video.’

Still, the LTO held the driver liable for the helper’s safety, citing that drivers must ‘exercise reasonable caution,’ thus ruling the truck driver an improper person to operate a motor vehicle ‘at this time.’

Upon recommendation of the LTO’s Intelligence and Investigation Unit, the license revocation will last four years.

Furthermore, the driver’s license was placed on alarm and the driver was fined for reckless driving. /cb

The House of Representatives has given the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) until Friday to submit a proposed schedule of new, higher case rates for 2026, warning that state subsidies for next year would depend on the agency’s compliance.

During plenary deliberations on the Department of Health’s proposed ?253-billion budget, House appropriations committee chair and Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing reminded the state insurer that since the chamber was proposing to realign ?60 billion that was slashed from the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) proposed 2026 budget toward subsidies for the National Health Insurance Program, PhilHealth must commit to raising case rates.

Case rates refer to fixed reimbursement amounts given to hospitals and doctors per illness or procedure.

‘I hope that the PhilHealth will give us the updated case rates by Friday and that should already be the closest estimates to what would eventually be the increase in case rates,’ Suansing stressed. ‘We should not just see ballpark figures.’

‘We are doubling PhilHealth’s budget. Just looking off of that, [our] expectation is at least a 50 percent increase in case rates,’ she added.

Suansing’s deadline – announced past midnight of Sept. 30 – will determine whether the House would eventually approve the additional subsidy.

‘I think everyone is in agreement that the ?60 billion is a huge ask on the part of PhilHealth and we would need more information as to whether or not to ultimately approve it in the final version of the House general appropriations bill,’ she said.

The ?60 billion represents excess PhilHealth funds reverted to the national treasury in 2024 and ordered returned by President Marcos Jr. on Sept. 20.

This is on top of the ?53 billion already earmarked for state subsidies in the 2026 National Expenditure Program. This means PhilHealth could receive a total of ?113 billion – if the House is satisfied with its submission by Friday.

Both Suansing and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, a former health secretary under the Aquino administration, pressed PhilHealth officials to detail increases in packages covering major procedures such as angiogram and angioplasty.

Initially, PhilHealth officials were reluctant to commit to figures, saying that increases must undergo actuarial studies to ensure sustainability.

But later, through sponsoring lawmaker Bataan Rep. Albert Garcia, they estimated that coverage for an angiogram could rise to ?100,000, while angioplasty could increase to about ?200,000.

Suansing argued that PhilHealth could afford an ambitious increase in case rates as its massive reserve funds could cover the deficit.

Beyond case rates, the appropriations chair previously warned PhilHealth that it must not use the additional subsidies for investments.

PhilHealth’s case rate system was intended to simplify payments and curb fraudulent claims. However, it has long been criticized for failing to keep pace with rising medical costs.

MREIT Inc. plans to double its portfolio to one million square meters (sq m) of gross leasable area (GLA) by 2027 by targeting the retail assets of its sponsor, Megaworld Corp.

MREIT disclosed on Monday they wanted to take advantage of continued growth in consumer spending and strong momentum in mall leasing.

‘Our goal is to diversify our portfolio and expand our revenue base,’ MREIT chair Kevin Tan said in a statement. ‘So while the country is experiencing an impressive growth in consumer activities, we want to tap into these opportunities.’

Megaworld currently has 500,000 sq m of retail GLA that may potentially be infused into MREIT. Once these assets are injected into MREIT, its portfolio would reach one million sq m.

According to MREIT, foot traffic at Megaworld Lifestyle Malls has already surpassed prepandemic levels. This was mainly due to strong leasing activities from both local and international brands.

Mall occupancy reached a record-high 93 percent in the first semester. This helps make the retail sector an attractive investment opportunity.

MREIT’s portfolio is spread across Megaworld’s townships. These include Eastwood City, McKinley Hill, McKinley West, Iloilo Business Park and Davao Park District.

In the first six months of the year, MREIT’s distributable income surged by 26 percent to P1.86 billion. This was driven by gains from six newly acquired properties and better occupancy levels.

Its revenues likewise swelled by 28 percent to P2.7 billion.

3 million square meters

At the same time, Megaworld plans to grow its office GLA to 2 million sq m and its retail GLA to one million sq m by 2030. This would bring its total leasing portfolio to 3 million sq m.

Megaworld also recently sold P2.24 billion worth of its shares in MREIT. This makes room for possible asset infusions in the future.

This raised MREIT’s public ownership level to 40 percent. It is above the 33.33-percent minimum requirement for real estate investment trusts.

According to MREIT, Mactan Newtown in Cebu will get P830 million of the total proceeds. Paragua Coastown in Palawan will be allocated P845 million, while the Bacolod township will be allocated P537.92 million. INQ

The title of today’s piece describes our collective reaction to all events unfolding before us, local, national, or international.

Our collective stupor has been our way of life for the last two presidential elections. Before Ferdinand Marcos Jr. became President, we had a president who made killing a normalized disciplinary action for those allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade. Many of us appreciated this, arguing that it was, so far, the best deterrent to the widespread use of illegal drugs among the youth.

When former President Rodrigo Duterte started his term, he vowed to end the illegal drug problem within six months. A lot of us applauded him, despite his crass and vulgar language, whenever he talked about this major affliction among the Filipino population.

But when he stepped down in May 2022, the drug problem was nowhere near eradicated. Duterte himself admitted that he was not able to end this problem as he promised.

The levels of corruption in many government bureaucracies-from the local to the national levels-were already quite noticeable earlier, even before Mr. Marcos cried ‘mahiya naman kayo!’ in his fourth State of the Nation Address.

When Duterte assumed the presidency, he always said that he hated corruption-even a ‘whiff’ of it. It appeared that he did not want small-scale corrupt practices and could have allowed huge amounts of corruption. But it was during his time that the now infamous contractor couple-the Discayas-bagged the biggest chunks of their contracts with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

We also recently learned that one of the huge contributors to the campaign of Duterte’s daughter, now Vice President Sara Duterte, is the Escandor family. A recent inquiry yielded information that the Escandors contributed P20 million to Sara’s vice-presidential campaign. The Escandors are the owners of Genesis 88 Construction. They bagged P2.9 billion of flood control projects in the entire Davao Region, with 25 percent of these projects in Davao City. The Escandors own some hotels and other business establishments in Davao City. Many of their projects are now being investigated by the new secretary of the DPWH. Some of these projects were completed in 2022, but only on paper.

This does not include the infrastructure projects awarded to the family of Sen. Bong Go, who used to be Duterte’s man Friday. In August 2025, information surfaced that Go’s father, Desiderio Go, owns the CLTG Builders (the initials stand for Christopher Lawrence Tesoro Go, the senator’s full name). The company allegedly facilitated the joint venture with Sarah Discaya’s St. Gerrard Construction, the top contractor during the Duterte presidency.

Why it took us this long to express our rage during the ‘Trillion Peso March’ last Sept. 21 spoke volumes about our collective slumber for more than a decade. It seems we have ‘accepted’ that corruption in government offices is normal. It would be unusual to find a few local and national government officials whose hands are not entangled in dirty reciprocal relationships with contractors of infrastructure projects.

And it took a force majeure from nature-in the form of endless flooding-among areas that were supposed to benefit from multimillion- and multibillion-peso flood control projects to wake us up. We reacted like audiences of a slow-burn movie, and only recently have we realized that we could do something together. And this has led to holding huge protest rallies to call out our senators, congressmen and women, and all local and regional officials.

In fairness to several journalists-both in broadcast and print media-these anomalies have been written about and discussed on television in the recent past. But collectively, many of us just listened and shrugged our shoulders, thinking that it was not something to be surprised about.

Our delayed reaction, its minimal impact, and the slow pace of the national government in addressing these problems mirror how global populations have reacted to the major human-made catastrophes of the 21st century. These include Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that continues to this day, and the most inhuman tragedy of all-Israel’s genocidal war against Palestine.

While there are several international initiatives to challenge Israel’s genocide in Gaza, they are quite late and insufficient. Global entities like the United Nations should have acted more swiftly and more strongly, rather than just issuing statements of condemnation. And all these initiatives have been quite slow compared to the swiftness of Israel’s annihilation of Palestinians.