Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Archie Alemania said he considered himself as a ‘good husband and father’ as he opened up for the first time about his separation from actress Gee Canlas, saying they clashed over their roles in their marriage.

In an interview with Ogie Diaz published on YouTube over the weekend, Alemania was asked for his reaction to Canlas’ interview last March where she said that she should have left the marriage earlier, adding that she had lost parts of herself in the course of their relationship.

‘Dapat ‘yun na nga ang ginawa niya. Dati pa. For the sake ng katahimikan namin kasi hindi naman nabago kung ano ‘yung ginagawa niya,’ the actor said of his wife.

Alemania said conflicts had emerged in their marriage because he and Canlas had differing views about their roles in the marriage.

‘Pareho kaming Christian ni Gee. Lahat ng pinanghahawakan ko sa pagiging magkarelasyon kapag pareho kayong Kristiyano, ‘yung, ikaw ang hari ng tahanan at siya ‘yung reyna. Wife, submit to your husband. Husband, love your wife,’ he explained. ‘Nangyayari, pareho kaming hari sa isang kaharian, so ‘di puwede ‘yon. Yun yung laging nangyayari for the past how many years.’

The actor claimed he felt he was being provoked during their arguments even as he tried to stay quiet, partly for the sake of their son, Caleb.

‘Saan ka lulugar? Wala kang lulugaran. Ikaw lagi may kasalanan. Kahit siya may kasalanan, ako pa rin ang may kasalanan. That’s in my point of view, ha. Kasi, yung naranasan ko at nakita ko. ‘Yun lang ang kinasasamaan ng loob ko,’ he added.

Regardless of their marital differences, Alemania said he believes he was a devoted husband.

‘I believe, dakila akong asawa. Kasi nu’ng nagpakasal ako, as in wala talaga, walang kalokohan,’ Alemania said. ‘Siya lang talaga. Time and effort para sa pamilya ko.’

‘Everything that I have is for them, and everything that I do is for them. I believe, from the bottom of my heart, I am a good father and good husband,’ he added.

While expressed sadness over being unable to see his son, Alemania said he is now living a more peaceful life after his separation from Canlas.

‘Peaceful. Mas tahimik ‘yung buhay. Pero siyempre may kalungkutan dahil hindi ko kasama ‘yung anak ko,’ he said. ‘I’m happy now and mas peaceful in a sense sa relasyon. Mas tahimik. Mas okay ako ngayon. Intindihin ko muna ang sarili ko.’

On Rita Daniela case

Meanwhile, Alemania continued to deny the allegations made by singer-actress Rita Daniela that he had tried to make unwanted sexual advances towards her. He insisted that he could not have committed the act despite having been found guilty by a court.

‘Hindi ko kayang gawin ‘yon,’ he said. ‘Sa tinatagal-tagal ko sa showbiz, sa dinami-dami ng chicks ko, sa dinami-dami ng babae ko, never po akong nangmanyak.’

‘Kailangan mutual consent ‘yan, para may mangyari sa inyo. Pero never kong ginawa kahit kanino ‘yon, kahit no’ng nambababae ako,’ he continued.

In October 2025, Alemania was found guilty of acts of lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code in connection with the case filed by Daniela.

Gilas Pilipinas is entering the second round of the 2027 Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers with a four-game losing skid.

Still, that didn’t stop RJ Abarrientos from having a positive outlook heading into the Philippines’ homestand against Jordan on Friday and Iran on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.

‘We now have more chemistry as a team,’ said Abarrientos. ‘That’s the most important thing. Our window [games] against New Zealand and Australia were a big help.’

‘We’re still very happy to be together again now and practice for a few more days.’

In the previous third window, Gilas dropped a 106-102 heartbreaker against New Zealand in double overtime in Auckland before getting blown out by undefeated Australia, 92-49, in Perth.

While Abarrientos was rendered scoreless against the Boomers, his playmaking was crucial against the Tall Blacks as he tallied 10 assists with six points and five rebounds.

Abarrientos hopes to regain his form and snap out of his shooting slump this time, especially with Gilas missing the services of Justin Brownlee.

FPJ Panday Bayanihan Party-List Rep. Brian Poe questioned on Monday the National Bureau of Investigation’s lack of funding for agents or attachés stationed abroad as he called for stronger support for the bureau as it tackles an increasing number of transnational crimes involving Filipinos.

Under Republic Act No. 10687, specifically Section 7(F), the NBI is authorized to designate attachés or representatives in Philippine embassies abroad, Poe pointed out at the House Committee on Appropriations budget briefing for the Department of Justice (DOJ).

He noted, however, that the law requires the funding for such positions to come from the NBI’s own budget,

Asked whether an allocation for this purpose was included in the current year’s budget, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said there was none.

According to Matibag, the NBI has been hoping to address the lack of funding for overseas NBI representatives, as it considers the possibility of deploying attachés to selected areas abroad to work with foreign counterparts in tackling transnational crimes.

He noted that embassies from Europe and the United States already have counterparts in the Philippines who have assisted the NBI in pursuing cases that cross national borders.

Matibag welcomed Poe’s intervention, saying he hoped funding for NBI attachés could eventually be included in the bureau’s ‘wish list.’

More agents needed

But the NBI chief also underscored another pressing problem: The bureau needs more agents as it only has around 300 agents nationwide.

If the NBI wanted to deploy agents abroad, it would need to hire more.

‘This is quite alarming,’ Poe said, as he noted that the NBI has not ‘a single centavo’ of funding for even a single international representative to be attached to Philippine embassies abroad despite the growing number of cases with international links.

Poe cited the wide range of responsibilities now being handled by the NBI, including investigations involving the following:

Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs

scam networks

cyber fraud

online gambling

Interpol-related cases

human trafficking

online child sexual abuse or exploitation materials

‘The list goes on,’ Poe said, adding that Congress should seriously consider the issue during Congress deliberations on the proposed DOJ budget.

Accountability and law enforcement

Poe also linked the lack of overseas NBI representation to the broader issue of accountability and law enforcement, particularly in pursuing suspects and fugitives outside Philippine jurisdiction.

The government, he said, must ask how it could effectively go after international fugitives when the NBI has no dedicated funding for representatives abroad.

The proposed expansion of the NBI’s personnel and the possible deployment of attachés overseas could strengthen the Philippines’ ability to coordinate with foreign law enforcement agencies, share intelligence, follow cross-border criminal networks, and pursue cases that do not stop at the country’s borders.

Ensuring that the NBI has enough agents, eventually including representatives in key locations abroad, is not merely a matter of expanding the bureau, he said. It’s necessary to enable it to pursue criminals abroad.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is still reviewing the request the United States government to extradite sect leader and alleged sex offender Apollo Quiboloy, Palace press officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday.

Castro last August 11 said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. would decide on Quiboloy’s fate ‘in a couple of weeks.’

As of posting time, however, she said the DOJ is still assessing the extradition request.

‘Sa ngayon ang DOJ ay kasalukuyan pa pong binubusisi, inaaral, ina-asses ang bulto-bultong dokumento na naipasa sa kanila, at hindi pa po sila halos dahil sa napakaraming dapat pag-aaralan,’ she said at a Palace briefing.

(For now, the DOJ is still scrutinizing, studying, and assessing the large volume of documents submitted to them, and they have barely made progress because there is so much that needs to be reviewed.)

Among the issues the DOJ is looking into is whether the principle of double criminality applies or whether the charges Quiboloy will face in the US are also considered offenses punishable under Philippine law.

‘So, hintayin po natin kung ito ay… kung kailan matatapos, pero alam nila na ito ay agaran na dapat magkaroon ng desisyon. So, medyo makapal lang daw po at bulto ang mga dokumentong kanilang binabasa sa ngayon,’ Castro said.

(So, let’s wait and see when they will finish, but they know that a decision needs to be made urgently. It’s just that, according to them, the documents they are reviewing at the moment are quite voluminous.)

The DOJ previously said the matter would be ‘given priority’ and carefully scrutinized to make sure the circumstances in Quiboloy’s criminal cases pending in two local courts are factored in.

Quiboloy faces qualified human trafficking charges at the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) and a separate case for sexual abuse and maltreatment before the Quezon City RTC

In a bid to enhance campus security, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday, Aug. 25, presented a campus security guard and mobile patrol strategy for public schools nationwide.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara has presented a hybrid campus security model that seeks to enhance surveillance despite the shortages in security guards in public schools in the country through a strategic patrolling assignment based on ‘campus size and needs.’

The initiative is in partnership with the local government units and the Philippine National Police, under the Department of Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular No. 2026-037 on Safer School Zones.

‘Under the proposed framework, DepEd will prioritize assigning security guards to high-density campuses while leveraging community support for smaller schools,’ the DepEd said in a statement.

Based on the proposed model, during arrival and dismissal hours, campuses with less than 500 students and 1,000 students are provided one security guard supported by local barangay watchmen and volunteers from the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) assistance team.

Meanwhile, campuses classified as large with 3,300 learners are assigned two security guards, also assisted by the barangay tanod and the PTA volunteers.

Campuses with more than 8,000 learners are proposed to be allocated four security guards, alongside Philippine National Police mobile patrols and local security officers.

The barangay tanods are assigned to be the first line of defense for perimeter controls in campuses, while the PTA assistance teams will assist in crowd and traffic control, according to the DepEd.

‘Through our hybrid security model, we partner with our communities and other stakeholders to ensure a safe and orderly environment for every school,’ Angara said.

The move comes amid mounting concerns on campus security following the shooting incident at a private school in Zamboanga involving a junior high school student, who was able to bring a firearm inside the premises.

The agency said it is set to conduct two phases, starting with schools classified with large populations, before proceeding in small and medium schools.

‘To reinforce physical security without relying on additional manpower, the Department is also prioritizing investments in surveillance infrastructure including closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, upgraded area lighting, access control systems and scanners,’ it added. /

Thirteen towns in Zambales suspended face-to-face classes at all levels on Tuesday as the southwest monsoon continued to bring rain across the province.

The towns of Subic, Castillejos, San Antonio, Cabangan, Botolan, and Masinloc suspended classes at all levels in both public and private schools

Other towns – San Marcelino, San Narciso, San Felipe, Iba, Palauig, Candelaria and Santa Cruz – also suspended classes but will shift to alternative learning protocols like online or modular learning, to allow students to continue their education while face-to-face classes are suspended.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), in its 4 a.m. forecast on Tuesday, said Zambales could receive 50 to 100 millimeters of rain from Monday to Thursday noon (Aug. 27).

Meanwhile, Typhoon Saudel, formerly known as ‘Obet,’ was outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) as of 3 a.m. Tuesday, with maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h and gustiness of up to 185 km/h. Another tropical cyclone, Tropical Depression Atsani, was being monitored outside the PAR

A 20-year-old man went missing after he was reportedly swept away by a strong current while crossing a river in Barangay Burgos here on Tuesday.

According to an initial report from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Jasper Rosales, a resident of Sitio Dinuron in Barangay Burgos, waded through the Pamatawan River in Sitio Maligaya at around 11 a.m. with his 32-year-old cousin, Darwin Milo, to gather vegetables when they were caught in the strong river current.

Milo survived, while Rosales remains missing, the report said.

The Coast Guard Sub-Station (CGSS) San Antonio and personnel from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) of San Antonio are conducting search-and-rescue operations for Rosales as of Tuesday afternoon

The principal of a public high school in Masbate province has apologized for his derogatory remarks online against Akbayan Representatives Chel Diokno and Percival Cendaña, and lawyer Jesus Falcis.

In his earlier posts on a now-deactivated Facebook account, Randy Emmanuel Villar Bulanon, the principal of Dimasalang National High School, made disparaging remarks about Falcis’ sexuality and ridiculed the physical appearances of Diokno and Cendaña, a stroke survivor.

On Monday, Bulanon issued an apology through the school’s Facebook page to Falcis, Diokno and Cendaña and several other individuals and groups, saying he should have ‘exercised greater prudence, restraint, and discernment’ in his social media posts, ‘especially considering my responsibilities as a school principal.’

Bulanon also apologized to the Department of Education (DepEd), the school community and stakeholders. ‘As a school head, I fully recognized that my words, actions and social media activities may be perceived as reflective not only of myself as an individual but also of the position and institution I represent,’ he said.

According to him, he was ready to face ‘whatever appropriate consequences may be imposed in accordance with existing laws, rules, policies and procedures of the Department of Education.’

In a statement, the DepEd Masbate School Division Office said the ‘matter is being properly addressed in accordance with due process, fairness and accountability

Internal Revenue Commissioner Charlito Martin R. Mendoza and Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa are spearheading discussions to align the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Electronic Documentary Stamp Tax (eDST) system with the Supreme Court’s Electronic Notarization (eNotarization) facilities.

During their Aug. 11 meeting, Mendoza and Caguioa led BIR and SC representatives in discussing how the documentary stamp tax (DST) can be paid and affixed electronically, allowing electronically notarized documents to remain digital from end to end.

In a statement on Monday, Mendoza said the meeting aimed to address the paper-based DST affixation requirement, which the BIR and the SC had identified during their Feb. 27 discussions as the remaining paper-based step in an otherwise electronic notarization process.

‘If a document can be executed, signed, notarized, and verified electronically, it should not have to go back to paper just to comply with the documentary stamp tax. That is why we are working with the Supreme Court to remove this remaining paper-based step and make the entire process seamless and more verifiable,’ Mendoza said.

This reform builds on the SC’s Rules on Electronic Notarization, approved on February 4, 2025, and the BIR’s Revenue Regulations No. 28-2025, issued on Dec. 22, 2025, which implemented the enhanced eDST system and mandated its use by covered taxpayers, including notaries public.

Mendoza said the initiative supports the Digital and Data Transformation and Service Excellence and Stakeholder Engagement pillars of BIR DARES, while helping modernize notarization-a core process in many business and private transactions-and supporting the government’s broader ease-of-doing-business agenda.

‘We are redesigning processes so government systems work together and transactions become simpler, faster, and easier to verify. This cooperation with the Supreme Court shows how inter-agency coordination can produce practical and lasting reforms that make it easier and safer for people and businesses to transact,’ he added.

A court in Isabela City, Basilan province has temporarily stopped law enforcement agencies from enforcing the arrest warrants against a lady town mayor and her co-accused.

This situation stays until the resolution on their motions before the court is issued.

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 2 in Isabela City issued the order Monday after the accused, through their legal counsel, filed a very urgent motion for reinvestigation and to recall the warrant of arrest.

On Aug. 20, the RTC Branch 2 issued warrants of arrest for murder, frustrated murder and attempted murder against Hadji Muhtamad Mayor Arsina Kahing Nanoh and her co-accused – Nadz Nanoh, Walihul Allama, Hadji Rahim Kahim, Lucman Kaling, Tudy Bayro, Sing Hassan, Arsina Kahing Nanoh, and seven John Does.

In a statement Tuesday, lawyer Quirino Esguerra Jr., legal counsel for the accused, said they have asked the court to dismiss the cases for alleged lack of probable cause or to remand them to the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor for further investigation.

Esguerra said the court has scheduled the hearing on their motion at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 4.

‘The court likewise ordered the prosecution to file its comment or opposition within 10 days from receipt of the order,’ he said in a statement.

The criminal cases against Nanoh and her co-accused stemmed from the May 12, 2025 attack near Barangay Sangbay Big, Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan.

This incident resulted in the deaths of Ben Bakil, Murasidol Abdurahman and Samir Jamiri Allil and in the wounding of several others.

Abdurahman was a poll watcher at the May 12 midterm elections, while Bakil and Allil were supporters of former Hadji Muhtamad Mayor Jamar Mansul, who was then running for mayor against Nanoh.

Esguerra noted that the Aug. 24 court order temporarily halting the implementation of the arrest warrants does not dismiss the cases or permanently recall the warrants.

‘It just temporarily prevents their enforcement while the court considers and resolves the defendants’ motions,’ he said