Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Ex-prisoners were the students’ special guests at a recent Ateneo event. They were members of a program under the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service (PJPS), where they made and sold coffee as a way to return to society after years behind bars.

The program is called, playfully and meaningfully, Ex-Preso, a play on both the former prisoners’ past and the coffee they now serve.

There are next to no reintegration programs in the country, and the PJPS has worked for decades to help ex-prisoners, who often find themselves returning to a changed, unforgiving world.

Ex-Preso is not just a livelihood program that focuses on profits; it aids the ex-prisoners’ journey of formation. Coffee becomes a metaphor: its slow brewing is also an ‘intentional steeping of identity, trust, and integration,’ according to the PJPS website.

Ex-prisoners are educated not only on making coffee, but also on turning inward for reflection and outward for dialogue. The program allows them to gain control over their lives; to see places that they only ever dreamed of seeing as the Ex-Preso coffee truck hops from one location to the next; and to share their stories with those who are willing to listen rather than judge.

At the event, the students weren’t only given the chance to listen to the stories of former prisoners, but also to think deeply about what freedom means.

For the members of Ex-Preso, freedom was not gained by a mere change of location, but is constantly constructed through daily effort, as they rediscover who they are-and especially when they must fit into a society that sometimes sees crime as a permanent stain into families that once voted a president who condemned rather than sought out reformation, into a world where the stigma of sin is greater than a so-called Catholic society’s capacity to forgive.

Some of my former students were at the session, and they wrote lovingly of their encounters. Their small discussion circles helped my students exchange stories with the members of Ex-Preso, until they could see so few differences between themselves and people who had spent decades locked away from the world.

As one of the former prisoners said: ‘Lahat naman tayo may kasalanan, kami lang ‘yung nahuli. (All of us are sinners; we’re just the ones who got caught.)’

Last Sunday was Prison Awareness Sunday, and it was a timely reminder of the nature of incarceration. We often equate prison with jail: the hammer of justice banging down to keep a monster away from the world; the judgment that pronounces a human being as a bloodthirsty animal that must be restrained; the rage of society as it looks upon prisoners with fear and the formerly incarcerated with disdain.

Prison, however, also speaks to the bars we build around ourselves, and those we inherit. Philosophers and sociologists have used it as a metaphor for years: Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon represents surveillance and the surrender of civil liberties. Max Weber’s iron cage speaks of an industrial society in which people are so specialized and processes are so bureaucratized, all in the name of efficiency that has taken away our creativity and freedom.

A catechist or psychologist could talk endlessly about the prison of vices, greed, and desire. An atheist might call religious belief a prison for the mind. There is so much to be said about the bars, and yet so little to be said in the name of compassion for those who have left them behind.

In the last few years, we’ve seen a society grow online that has helped push the narrative of the hopeless, uncontrollable drug addict who is permanently a monster, responsible for all the ills of society, a pestilence that must be expunged.

There was no fair trial for the poor, no questioning of the broken social structures that actually led to the abuse, so little skepticism about the statistics being put forth that alleged how we were so awash in drugs that there was no other recourse but a purge.

The poor died on the streets, and the privileged wicked fled to their mansions. The accused left behind grieving families, and the still-living wicked treated theirs to luxury.

And when the instigator was taken to the International Criminal Court for trial, there suddenly rose a clamor for justice, understanding, compassion, and due process-none of which had been granted to the voices forever silenced, all of which are actually being served now, in an air-conditioned chamber in another country where prisoners are treated humanely.

The clamor is loud online, and the offline protests look ridiculous when put next to protests against corruption. In a call for freedom for the one person who had no compassion for those without it, the protesters are crafting their own iron bars, as they cling too hard to their beliefs, disregard all evidence implicating their idols in evil, and condemn those who speak the truth today.

The Ex-Preso were just caught, and are now freely brewing coffee. These fanatics, on the other hand, are still living in a prison they built around themselves.

A six-year-old Grade 1 pupil was killed after being struck by a stray bullet during a firefight between government troops and New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Moises Padilla town, Negros Occidental, on Tuesday morning.

The victim, a student of Agogolo Elementary School, was hit in the head amid the encounter between soldiers of the 62nd Infantry Battalion and communist rebels at Sitio Inangao, Barangay Quintin Remo, according to Mayor Ella Garcia Yulo.

Vice Mayor Pimpoy Yulo visited the funeral home on Tuesday evening to extend condolences and provide financial assistance to the victim’s family.

The officials said they felt deeply saddened by the death of the child

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has reiterated its warning to the public to refrain from dealing with persons or organizations misusing its name, logo, or the names of its personnel.

This comes after the May 2025 public advisory against an entity misrepresenting itself as the ‘UNA Financing Corporation.’

Such entity had used the BSP logo and the names of its personnel without authorization, the banking regulator said in a statement on Wednesday.

‘The BSP reiterates that in performing its official functions, it does not solicit money, request personal or financial information, or offer investment opportunities or loans to the public,’ the BSP said in an advisory.

UNA Financing, which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, has since clarified that it is not connected with the fraudulent act.

The scandal involving flood control projects becomes bigger every day. With every new revelation comes the realization that corruption in the Philippines is the norm rather than the exception. Behind the repeated promises to serve the ‘interest of the public’ citizens see only hollow words, leaving trust in politicians at an all-time low.

A Stratbase-commissioned survey by Pulse Asia, conducted in September, shows an alarming and sobering picture: 97 percent of Filipinos believe that corruption is widespread, and 85 percent say it has worsened over the past year. Fifty-nine percent agree that it is just ‘a normal part of politics.’ This is normalization’s ugly and dangerous face. Furthermore, 90 percent believe that there is collusion among public officials and private contractors in the misuse of public funds, especially in infrastructure projects.

What is happening is ugly because it takes so much away from the people who barely earn enough for the daily sustenance of their family, and whose lives and homes are put in harm’s way during bad weather and the resultant flooding. It is dangerous because when people accept corruption as normal, democracy becomes just for show. Accountability collapses-if it was ever there in the first place.

Thus, in the span of just a few months, coinciding with the time President Marcos first delivered his ‘mahiya naman kayo’ State of the Nation Address and the subsequent probes and revelations, corruption has jumped to become the second-biggest issue of concern for Filipinos, next only to the prices of goods. From just 24 percent of respondents citing it as an urgent national concern, now 51 percent say so, with corruption overtaking even the gut issues of jobs and poverty.

And rightly so. This surge reflects not just moral outrage, but the sense that corruption worsens inflation, weakens services, and consigns the poor to even greater poverty.

In addressing corruption, the people’s sentiments on the government’s efforts are dismal: just 17 percent approve of how the government is fighting graft, while a staggering 69 percent disapprove. What this tells us is that the people do not believe the government is doing enough to change deeply entrenched and widely practiced corruption among the ranks. A 19-point percentage jump compared to June also tells us that recent events have caused people to feel this strongly. The administration’s anticorruption narrative is no longer credible to most Filipinos, who perceive the system as self-protective and selective.

It only follows that when the nation is outraged, its trust and approval of top officials also suffer a blow. Mr. Marcos’ approval rating fell to 33 percent, while Vice President Sara Duterte’s approval slipped to 37 percent. Their trust ratings also declined, reflecting discontent with the state of governance.

Some 81 percent of respondents said they have little to no trust in the Department of Public Works and Highways. Even the Senate (37 percent) and Ombudsman (39 percent) received only moderate trust, reflecting an overall institutional credibility crisis.

The same surveys show that people are now trusting other institutions, specifically the media (51 percent) and nongovernment organizations (50 percent).

These survey results lay down an unequivocal message: the people are disgusted with corruption and their officials’ behavior and hypocrisy. And in their demand for transparency and accountability, what is being done is barely adequate to even scratch the surface of the crisis. As corruption worsens and government performance falters, Filipinos lose confidence in their leaders.

This crisis of trust gripping the nation has profound implications.

The decrease in trust suggests that citizens no longer see the government leadership as credible or responsive to their most pressing needs, including high prices of basic commodities, low wages, and persistent corruption. Increasingly, people are becoming aware that their hard-earned taxpayer money is being pocketed by dishonest government officials and used to fund lavish lifestyles.

What are Filipinos doing about their disgust and desperation? They are expressing them on social media. They are taking it to the streets. Students have been staging walkouts and there have been rallies, big and small alike, in many locations and by many groups.

How these sentiments will evolve in the following years will translate to votes in the next elections.

The people are demanding to see something drastic, substantial, sincere, and specific. Full transparency and accountability in procurement and performance. Greater power for independent oversight bodies. Institutionalized whistleblower protection and citizen monitoring mechanisms. Greater political accountability for criminal acts and ethical breaches that betray public trust.

The logical question is: What is the government going to do about it, when it appears that its current efforts are not enough?

Dindo Manhit is the CEO and founder of Stratbase Group.

Every investor wants to know if markets can truly be beaten.

This question has shaped the way people think about investing for decades. If prices will always move in step with information, then no amount of analysis or strategy would give anyone an edge.

But if markets sometimes misjudge, then opportunities exist for those who can spot the gaps.

In the 1960s, an economist by the name of Eugene Fama of the University of Chicago offered one of the boldest answers to this debate. He introduced the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), a theory that argued markets are remarkably quick to absorb news and adjust prices.

Modern finance

Under this view, the moment information becomes public, stock prices should already reflect it. If this were true, no investor could consistently earn more than the market average because any new development would already be built into the price.

Even so, the EMH became one of the foundations of modern finance, shaping the way professionals, academics and regulators approached investing.

Yet actual market behavior often tells a different story. Prices do not always adjust in step with new information. Human emotions and biases often stand in the way.

Psychology

At times, investors push prices far above or below fair value. At other times, they react too slowly and prices lag.

These two tendencies, which are overreaction and underreaction, are among the clearest signs of how psychology affects markets.

Overreaction happens when investors panic in response to bad news or become euphoric when news is good. Prices move well beyond what fundamentals justify that lead to sharp drops or spikes that eventually correct.

Underreaction is the opposite. Investors anchor themselves to their old beliefs and respond too slowly when new information arrives. As a result, stock prices move only gradually and often trail behind business fundamentals.

These behaviors break away from the idea of an efficient market.

In 1985, Werner De Bondt of the University of Wisconsin and Richard Thaler of Cornell University studied portfolios of hardest-hit stocks, called losers, and compared them with the strongest performers or winners.

What they found was striking. The losers did better in the years that followed, while the winners fell behind. Their study showed that markets tend to overreact. Some stocks were punished too much while others were rewarded more than they deserved.

But that was the long-term picture. In the short run, markets often behaved differently. A few years later, in 1993, Narasimhan Jegadeesh of Emory University and Sheridan Titman of the University of Texas found evidence of momentum.

Stocks that did well in recent months continued to rise, while laggards fell further. Their study showed that markets underreact in the short term and fail to reflect new information until much later.

Taken together, these findings reveal that markets can swing between extremes. Prices may overshoot in the long run, yet still drift slowly in the short term.

This paradox is what makes overreaction and underreaction two of the most enduring patterns in market behavior.

If we look at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), we see that in 2023, the 10 biggest losers among index stocks mostly rebounded the following year. Six out of 10 recovered, which showed a clear sign of mean reversion at work.

Converge, for example, lost almost 50 percent in 2023 but rebounded strongly in 2024. Puregold, Monde, Globe, DMCI and Semirara likewise recovered after steep drops.

On the other hand, the winners in 2023 tell a different story. Out of the 10 best performers, eight continued to gain the following year.

For example, DigiPlus surged more than 200 percent in 2023, then doubled again in 2024. Chinabank and ICTSI led the six other blue chips to extend their gains into 2024.

If we put this side by side, the results tell a familiar story. The rebound of the biggest losers points to mean reversion, while the continued rise of many winners reflects momentum, with the market taking time to fully price in their strength and letting the rally run longer.

This year so far, the PSE Index has struggled, with 21 of its 30 constituents in the red. The five biggest losers are ACEN (-45.5 percent), San Miguel (-32.1 percent), Converge (-30.6 percent), Globe (-30.1 percent) and DigiPlus (-26.7 percent).

Overreaction

The question now is whether they will recover before year-end or, as history has shown, bounce back by next year as a result of an overreaction that corrects itself through mean reversion.

But not every loser recovers. Some stocks remain weak because of fundamental problems that sentiment alone cannot fix. In these cases, declines persist and allow negative momentum to run longer.

The tendency of markets to overreact or underreact is not a weakness but an opportunity. Losers often rebound when fundamentals are sound, while winners fade when those supports are absent.

By recognizing these swings, investors can buy when fear is excessive and sell when optimism runs ahead of reality. INQ

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has raised P15 billion from the issuance of sustainability-linked bonds to support the redevelopment of several properties across Luzon.

The Zobel family-led real estate giant on Wednesday said the bonds were linked to ALI’s achievement of two key sustainability targets:

42-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across its malls, offices and hotels by 2030; and

EDGE Zero Carbon certification for 1.5 million square meters of office space by the end of 2025.

The offering includes five-year Series C bonds due 2030 at a fixed rate of 6.0671 percent per annum and 10-year Series D bonds due 2035 at 6.3192 percent per annum.

Sustainability war chest

‘With this issuance, we have raised a total of P56 billion, or approximately $1 billion-a milestone that reflects our collective progress in integrating sustainability into the way we fund growth,’ ALI chief finance officer Jose Eduardo Quimpo II said in a statement.

Of the total proceeds, 60 percent will be used to refinance existing debt, while the remaining 40 percent will support the redevelopment of the BPI Headquarters and Greenbelt 1 in Makati City.

Funds will also be earmarked for the development of Ayala Malls Evo City in Cavite province.

Meralco forward Bong Quinto knows it best-the Bolts have been here before.

Following another loss in the PBA Philippine Cup, this time at the hands of NLEx on Sunday at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo, Quinto shared his thoughts on the team’s grueling schedule.

Yet, his comments didn’t come off as complaints.

‘You can say that [the schedule] is a factor, but of course, we wanted this,’ Quinto told the Inquirer after their 89-85 loss to the Road Warriors.

‘We’ve been in this kind of situation before. If you notice, our games are scheduled consecutively.’

For the third straight year, Meralco is playing in two leagues-the PBA Philippine Cup and the East Asia Super League (EASL).

So while Quinto and the Bolts are no strangers to this demanding setup, it hasn’t helped their Philippine Cup campaign, where they now stand at 3-3.

‘We’ve played these kinds of schedules before. In a span of ten days, we play a lot of games, but we always go back to the fact that we’ve been here before.’

The Bolts face TNT next on Wednesday, still in Antipolo, but the tough grind continues. On Sunday, they fly to Taiwan to take on the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots at the Taoyuan Arena in the EASL.

In that regional league, Meralco is winless in Group B after dropping its season opener to Japanese B. League powerhouse Ryukyu Golden Kings.

With their attention divided between two demanding competitions, Quinto emphasized the need to stay grounded.

‘We just prepare ourselves so we’re ready when the quarters, semis, or maybe even the finals come. But before that happens, we have to establish ourselves here in the eliminations.’ INQ

Letting your kids run free outdoors can be quite scary for younger, inexperienced parents. But in reality, a little stain never hurt anybody, especially with Breeze that can take care of any stain.

Let them play on

The Breeze LarOlympics first made its debut in the Pinoy Big Brother house with your favorite housemates having fun and getting dirty through a muddy outdoor obstacle course-in clean white shirts no less.

But after cleaning them in mere minutes with Breeze Advanced Liquid, the message is clear: Sige lang sa mantsa, tuloy ang laro. Sige lang sa mantsa, tuloy ang laro. The Breeze LarOlympics is set to roll out nationwide, encouraging kids to play outdoors as they learn the values of courage, teamwork, and resilience.

Sports, by themselves, intrinsically impart cooperation, and teamwork amongchildren. It teaches them the value of working together towards a common goal.

Not everybody becomes the best immediately after picking up a sport, and having children start from the bottom, work their way to the top, and stick to that process teaches them the value of patience, which they can bring to other aspects of their lives. After all, you can’t learn everything from within the four corners of the classroom, so why not take it outside?

Stains aren’t the enemy

Getting stained along the way is to be expected from outdoor play. And for the parents who have to deal with the aftermath of a day spent outside, Breeze Advanced Powder and Breeze Advanced Liquid are your trusty allies.

Breeze Advanced Powder not only cleans clothes but offers advanced whitening as well. It also leaves clothes with a fresh fragrance after washing.

Breeze Advanced Liquid for washing machines can remove up to 72-hour dried-in stains, such as that bothersome caked-up mud. Of course, it also leaves clothes fresh and fragrant after washing, and is recommended by washing machine brands.

Outdoor play has a lot to offer; don’t let a few stains stop you and your kids.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average hit a record intraday high Wednesday morning, with investors heartened by higher U.S. stocks overnight amid easing concerns over trade tensions between the United States and China.

At 9:37 a.m., the Nikkei average stood at 50,909.17, up 689.99 points, or 1.37 percent, from Tuesday.

After halting its operations for nearly six years, budget airline Jetstar Japan resumed its direct flight service between Manila and Osaka.

In an advisory, the budget airline said winter flight schedules would operate up to seven return trips per week from Oct 26, 2025 to Mar 28, 2026.

The new flight route flies the 180-seat A320 aircraft from Airbus.

The flight inaugurated with the following route schedules:

Manila to Osaka (Kansai) departing at 2:40 AM, arriving at 7:25 AM PST

Osaka (Kansai) to Manila departing at 10:00 PM, arriving at 1:40 AM (+1) PST

With the newly added service to Manila, Jetstar operates two international flights to and from Kansai amid the winter flight schedule period.

Jetstar, owned by Australian airline Qantas, earlier shut down its Singapore-based arm Jetstar Asia, as part of a ‘strategic restructure’.

The closure did not affect flights operated by Jetstar Airways and Jetstar Japan