Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

A total of 25,349 Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel, so far, will be deployed for All Saints and All Souls Day or Undas 2025 security arrangements, its public information chief said.

In a press briefing in Camp Crame on Monday, PNP public information chief Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño detailed that 5,175 of the police officers to be deployed will be stationed at cemeteries, memorial parks and columbaria across the country.

Further, Tuaño said the PNP will set up 5,293 police assistance desks and 1,616 motorist assistance centers for Undas.

He added that 8,265 personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Philippine Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies will also be deployed to assist with security.

Additionally, according to Tuaño, the police’s deployment will be augmented by 22,399 force multipliers or barangay tanods and other volunteer groups.

The PNP public information chief said the law enforcement agency will be on full alert for Undas starting Oct. 31.

A driver died while five other motorists were injured on Monday morning, Oct. 20, after a wayward cargo truck caught fire in a road accident in Atimonan town in Quezon province.

Atimonan police, in a spot report, said a cargo truck driven by ‘Rolando,’ was negotiating a descending curved section of the Maharlika Highway in Barangay Malinao Ilaya at 6:40 a.m. when he lost control of the vehicle due to mechanical trouble.

The wayward truck consequently crashed into a pile of mud on the roadside, hitting a parked wrecked truck, causing it to tilt on its side, and subsequently slid and bumped two running tricycles.

After the collision, the truck caught fire and eventually exploded, police said.

Rolando was trapped inside the burning truck and died on the spot.

The fire and gasoline sprays caused injuries to the two trike drivers identified as ‘Edwin,’ 58; ‘Meriel,’ 28, and his three passengers – ‘Amethys,’ 13, ‘Jamela,’ 11, and ‘Angel,’ 13.

They were brought to a hospital in the locality for treatment.

Local firemen rushed to the site and extinguished the fire on the burning truck. INQ

Search and retrieval operations continued on Sunday for a missing couple who were swept into a deep ravine when a massive landslide led to a collapse of a section of the Bukidnon-Davao road in Sitio Kipolot, Barangay Palacapao here.

The area is popularly known to tourists and travelers as ‘Overview’ for the viewing decks established along the stretch of zigzag turns.

Authorities identified the missing couple as Ely and Thelma Ubatay, residents of Purok 9, Barangay Kahusayan, Kitaotao town, Bukidnon.

They were reportedly on their way home aboard their tricycle, locally known as ‘bao-bao,’ when the road gave way at 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, sending their vehicle plunging into the ravine.

Quezon Mayor Pablo Lorenzo III, who personally inspected the site on Sunday, said search operations were temporarily halted on Saturday night due to darkness and safety concerns but resumed early on Sunday morning.

Reinforcements from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) and responders from Valencia City, Maramag, and nearby towns joined the retrieval and clearing efforts.

Heavy disruption

Lorenzo expressed deep concern over the landslide’s significant impact on mobility and commerce.

‘The economy is going to be affected, especially the movement of people and goods,’ he said.

‘The highway is cut off, and although there are temporary adjustments, the supply chain-especially goods bound for Davao and vice versa-is heavily disrupted,’ he added.

He said that the local government is coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for possible solutions, including the construction of a temporary access road.

‘Unless DPWH can find a way through here, maybe a temporary road can be made. Until then, we’re left waiting. There’s actually a possible diversion road, but that’s up to DPWH to decide,’ Lorenzo pointed out.

According to the mayor, the affected section had previously undergone costly repairs. ‘You can see how big the damage is. The slope gave way, apparently due to water seepage underneath. (But) we’ll wait for the engineers’ full assessment,’ he noted.

Lorenzo also confirmed that several other barangays in Quezon reported smaller landslides following heavy rainfall the night before.

‘Probably the water accumulated in certain areas, causing soil movement. This one, however, is the most serious so far,’ he said.

Lengthy alternatives

The landslide has rendered the national highway, known as the Buda (for Bukidnon-Davao) road, impassable to all types of vehicles, forcing motorists to take lengthy alternate routes.

The road is a vital link between the Northern Mindanao and Davao regions. Goods from the Davao region intended for export to Southeast Asia and China pass through here and on to the Mindanao Container Terminal in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, or the Cagayan de Oro port.

In a travel advisory, the DPWH said those bound for Davao City coming from Cagayan de Oro City or Bukidnon may take the highway from Valencia City to Tagum City and on to Davao City, passing through the towns of San Fernando (Bukidnon) and Talaingod and Kapalong (Davao del Norte), although this adds some 60 kilometers to the travel length.

Instead of entering Quezon town, another route is the highway from the junction of Camp 1 in Maramag, Bukidnon, to Kabacan, Cotabato, and on to Davao City. This adds some 90 km to the length of travel.

The route to Tagum City is advised for light vehicles, while trucks are advised to take the route via Cotabato province

Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Mikaela Suansing has justified the need to put unprogrammed allocations (UA) in two separate sections for foreign-assisted projects (FAPs) under the proposed 2026 budget, noting that the government cannot just renege on its obligations for these programs.

Suansing, chairperson of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations, said in a press briefing on Monday that in the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), the UA for FAPs gets the biggest chunk – at P133.1 billion out of the total P243.2 billion.

This is a combination of purpose three and purpose four of the 11 UA purposes that Suansing mentioned. Purpose three is entitled Support to FAPs, or loan proceeds that would be approved and declared effective, while Purpose four is the Government of the Philippines counterpart of FAPs that are still undergoing negotiation.

‘I think both the House and the Senate were very clear on this, that we would need to retain the funding for foreign assisted projects under unprogrammed appropriations. And why is that so? Infrastructure projects lodged under DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) and DOTR (Department of Transportation) will only be allowed if these are foreign assisted projects or FAPs,’ Suansing said.

‘FAPS are projects funded by partner countries such as JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), the French ODA (official development assistance), multilateral bodies or other international entities such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and we need to retain the funding for FAPS because we cannot renege on our obligations and agreements to our development and international partners,’ she added.

Suansing said that the P133 billion UA for FAPs can be divided into three – 36.7 percent or P48.89 billion under FAPs that are still under negotiation; 28.8 percent or P38.33 billion that are newly-approved loans; and 34.5 percent or P45.85 billion that are additional tier two requirements of DOTr FAPs.

‘Second, the newly approved loans. I put that separate because when the NEP was finalized in July, these two projects under DSWD and DOH were still not finalized. And as of October 7, these two projects already have perfected agreements, that’s why we put it separate and the total for that would be P38 billion,’ she said.

‘And lastly, this is very interesting, P45 billion under FAPs are additional Tier Two requirements of ongoing foreign assisted projects under DOTR. What does that mean? This is P45.8 billion, they have a counterpart under the programmed appropriations of DOTR, but because the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) believes that the DOTr cannot spend the bulk of the fund (it was broken down),’ she added.

As to why there is a need for two separate items on FAPs, Suansing explained that there are two components to foreign projects – the loans that are granted to the country, and the funds that the Philippine government has to shell out.

‘Each foreign assisted project has two components, the first would be the loan proceeds, for projects whose funding come from our international partner. So that’s from JICA, from KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), from ADB, World Bank. These are loan proceeds which are under (Purpose) number three,’ Suansing noted.

‘The second branch of the foreign assisted projects would be what you call GOP counterpart, this means that under the agreement, there is a part shouldered by our international development partner, there is a portion that our country will fund, that is just like counterpart projects of local government units in the country,’ she added.

While several groups hailed the current budget process for being more transparent than previous years, there were also concerns regarding the presence of unprogrammed appropriations in the proposed2026 national budget even if these are believed to have been used as an instrument for corruption inside flood control projects.

Last October 9, Minority member Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña called out the transfer of UA for infrastructure projects in the proposed 2026 national budget to Foreign-Assisted Projects (FAP) – noting that it is just another form of unprogrammed funds.

Cendaña said that while allocations for the Strengthening Assistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs (SAGIP) were transferred to FAP, there is still a need to clarify where the funds would go because both are considered UA.

‘That is what we have observed, the reduction of the SAGIP projects, but when we saw it, it seems it was just transferred to the FAP, the Foreign Assisted Project,’ he said. ‘So we really need to scrutinize the allocations under UA.’

According to Cendaña, while there are reforms initiated for the budget process, it should be clarified how the UA will be appropriated.

‘Because while we have mentioned improvements, reforms, a lot still has to be explained, like the basic issues, like why are these items placed under the UA, if these are obligations that we should pay for our healthcare workers, if these are obligations under foreign loans when we implement foreign assisted projects,’ he said.

Last Monday, the House approved the GAB contained under House Bill (HB) No. 4058 with 287 lawmakers voting in favor, 12 against it, and two abstentions – despite concerns that it is allegedly still filled with UA and other ‘pork’ projects.

In his speech, Speaker Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy III said HB No. 4058 might not be perfect, but ‘we made sure nothing was hidden, nothing was concealed, with the goal to ensure that every penny of the tax paid by our citizens is given back to them in the form of opportunities, services, and hope.’

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has warned corrupt bidders that their schemes will no longer succeed under the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA).

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the law requires disclosure of beneficial ownership information, compelling companies participating in public procurement to reveal the identities of individuals who actually own, control, or exert significant influence over them.

‘The disclosure of beneficial ownership is a powerful feature of the new law because it ensures that conflicts of interest in public procurement are avoided,’ Pangandaman said, as quoted in a press release on Monday.

‘We are closing the doors on corruption and collusion in bidding for government projects. Under the NGPA, the old tricks of palit-pangalan, palit-ulo, and dummy company owners will no longer work,’ she added.

Pangandaman noted that the disclosure of beneficial ownership will strengthen integrity and ensure full transparency in the public procurement process, especially since a 2023 study by the Government Procurement Policy Board-Technical Support Office found that 65.8 percent of bidders share common owners.

The NGPA, hailed as the country’s biggest anti-corruption measure, was signed into law by President Marcos on July 20, 2024. The harmonized version of Senate Bill No. 2593 and House Bill No. 9648 aims to close loopholes in the current government procurement system for a more efficient and responsive process.

A key feature of the NGPA is its provision of 11 new procurement modalities, giving government agencies greater flexibility in acquiring goods and services./mcm

The children of businessman Charlie ‘Atong’ Ang on Monday asserted that they have no involvement in the disappearance of the missing sabungeros or cockfighting enthusiasts.

Ang’s children maintained their innocence in counter-affidavits submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) as preliminary investigations into the case of the missing sabungeros continue.

Ang and his children were among the 62 implicated by the families of the missing sabungeros’ victims who accused them of multiple counts of murder, multiple counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, violation of Republic Act (RA) 10353; obstruction of Justice; violation of RA 11983 or the New Philippine Passport Act; corruption of public officials; and violation of RA 9851 or the the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.

But in a statement released by their counsel, The Kapunan and Castillo Law Offices, the Ang siblings argued through their counter-affidavits that ‘the case implicating them in the case of the missing sabungeros is baseless and bereft of any credible evidence.’

‘The complaint against the children of Mr. Ang rests solely on the statements of a co-respondent and supposed whistleblower, Julie A. Patidongan, otherwise known as ‘Dondon’,’ the law firm said.

‘Unfortunately, such testimony, baseless and uncorroborated as it is, clearly failed to establish the crimes charged with prima facie evidence with a reasonable certainty of conviction, which is the new quantum of evidence necessary for the case to proceed,’ it added.

It was pointed out that Patidongan himself already stands trial before the Regional Trial Court of Manila for the kidnapping of the missing sabungeros and that he is now merely ‘grasping at straws in a desperate effort to evade accountability’ in implicating the Angs.

‘The Ang family is confident that truth and due process will ultimately prevail,’ said the law firm.

Patidongan was the whistleblower who tagged Ang as the mastermind behind the missing sabungeros, along with actress Gretchen Barretto.

He was also the same individual who first claimed that all the missing sabungeros had been killed and their remains dumped in Taal Lake in Batangas. /gsg

After making his acting debut in the Cinemalaya 2025 entry ‘Padamlagan,’ Ely Buendia showcased his newly discovered passion for the craft in the music video of ‘Kandarapa.’

The music video of ‘Kandarapa,’ the third single of Buendia’s album ‘Method Adaptor,’ was released on Sunday, Oct. 19, and is a ‘D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself)’ project brought together by the singer-songwriter, his own record label Offshore Music, and in-house creative Gada Nyssa Zayco.

It starts with a black-and-white glimpse of Buendia walking on the beach and wading through seawaters, showing scenes of him writing and rummaging through his possessions.

‘When I first heard ‘Kandarapa,’ I felt the courage behind it. It takes a certain kind of bravery and strength to begin a song with an admission to say that you or something is not okay right from the first line, before any instrument even begins,’ Zayco said of the creative process behind the music video. ‘I wanted the visuals to feel like a dream you’re half-aware of, caught between wanting to wake up but at the same time trapped.’

Zayco also described Buendia as a co-worker who allows creatives to have the space to ‘create’ while challenging them to seek the deeper meaning behind their work.

‘He gives you space to create, yet challenges you to see things from a deeper place. I used to see him as someone almost unreachable – a legend whose work defined generations,’ he said.

The music video was released 11 months after Buendia’s second studio album, ‘Method Adaptor,’ which was brought together with a labor of love.

It contains the other tracks, ‘Bulaklak sa Buwan,’ ‘Tagpi-Tagping Piraso,’ ‘Faithful Song,’ ‘Tamang Hinala,’ ‘Deadbeat Creeper,’ ‘Sige,’ ‘Kontrabando,’ ‘Chance Passenger,’ and ‘Esprit de Corpse.’

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon announced on Monday that the agency has 1,993 vacant positions, assuring that current employees will be prioritized for promotion.

‘Our priority to fill these positions is within the DPWH. I want to promote and elevate deserving, honest, and hardworking people already in the agency, including our job order employees,’ Dizon said in Filipino during the flag-raising ceremony.

He emphasized that job order employees, or short-term staff, are also eligible for promotion. ‘Just because you have been a job order employee for a long time doesn’t mean you have no right or opportunity to advance. You will be prioritized for nearly 2,000 vacancies,’ he added.

Dizon encouraged DPWH employees to apply for the vacant positions.

He also promised that salaries for job order employees will no longer be delayed, warning that anyone responsible for late wages will be dismissed.

‘Within seven days from the cut-off, all salaries will be paid-no more, no less. Payments cannot exceed seven days. If anyone here is not paid, report to me immediately,’ Dizon said.

On his first day in office, Dizon called for the courtesy resignation of all DPWH officials, from top posts in the central office to district-level positions, amid ongoing investigations into flood-control projects./mcm

Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday urged greater investment in digital transformation, describing it as a ‘weapon against corruption’ that can end the manipulation of public funds through the digitalization of government processes.

In a speech at the 51st Philippine Business Conference and Expo at the SMX Convention Center, Duterte noted how digital transformation has become a strategic tool for good governance and nation-building, as it enabled innovation in the business sector, all while improving the country’s capacity to deliver public services.

‘More importantly, it is our weapon against corruption. As we digitize, we automate our processes, make data and all government transactions seamless, borderless, and transparent, and we leave no room for scrupulous backdoor transactions,’ said Duterte.

‘We take away the power of corrupt leaders to manipulate public funds and capitalize on people’s money for their personal interests, greed, and political ambition,’ she added.

Duterte noted how technology has allowed the government to more effectively impose checks and balances, as well as eliminate ‘politically motivated decision-making,’ and prevent ‘unconstitutional budget insertions to curry political favor at the expense of the people’s money.’

‘If technology is a blessing to modern society, then let us use it to protect the people’s rights and welfare – the right to have better governance, the right to have better opportunities in our homeland, and the strong political will to put our leaders in check when they have unforgivably gone beyond the authority that the people have vested in them,’ said Duterte.

‘Let us use technology and digital transformation as weapons to close the door where corruption once thrived, unchecked and unpunished,’ she added.

Furthermore, Duterte noted investing in digital transformation is tantamount to investing in the country’s people, building better future opportunities, and creating a stronger and more competitive nation.

‘These strategies will be significant economic drivers that will help create local jobs, increase domestic activities, and spur development and progress in domestic and micro-economies across the Philippines,’ said Duterte.

Duterte’s pronouncements come amid the government and the private sector’s ongoing efforts to improve digitalization.

Her remarks also reflected recent government corruption scandals, including the alleged anomalies in infrastructure deals-particularly, flood control projects-as well as her own office’s alleged misuse of confidential funds.

The Sandiganbayan will craft its own rules and procedures that would help expedite the filing of cases against personalities involved in cases related to the anomalous flood control projects, according to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla.

‘I was told that the Sandiganbayan is now trying to craft its own rules and procedures, probably for the continued trial of cases. I requested that already to the Presiding Justice [Geraldine Econg], 10 days ago,’ Remulla said in a press briefing on Monday.

He likewise revealed that the Office of the Ombudsman will start its preliminary investigation on six flood control-related cases in Bulacan and Oriental Mindoro next week.

Remulla disclosed that they will start filing cases against the personalities before the anti-graft court by next month.

On September 20, the ICI submitted its first-ever interim report to the Ombudsman, flagging possible anomalies in a P289.5-million flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

In its 32-page report, the ICI urged the anti-graft body to determine appropriate charges against 18 public officials, including Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co.

The project, implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways Region IV-B (Mimaropa) through contractor Sunwest, Inc., involves the construction of a road dike along the Mag-Asawang Tubig River.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon earlier disclosed that the five cases in Bulacan involved officials from the district office and the contractors last October 14.