Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

I would like to react to Mr. Reginald Tamayo’s letter (see ‘Restaurants should make room and provide tables for furbabies, too,’ (10/08/25). While it was written very eloquently, to me, it reeked of entitlement.

Before I get bashed, let me explain. I grew up in an animal-loving family. We had dogs, cats, birds, chickens, and even a goat. Most beloved to us were our many dogs, from Kimchi the German shepherd to Chou the dachshund, and her six puppies. So loved were they that they slept on our beds, rode in our vehicles, went on trips, and basically got treated like babies of the family. We celebrated their birthdays and made them necklaces out of beads. And when they died, we grieved. We mourned our losses heavily-all this before owning a pet became as intense and over-the-top as it is now.

However, here comes the biting part, we knew where they belonged. My father would always remind us to be considerate of others. While in our home, we were free to do whatever we wanted, but in public, we were very mindful. Our pets stayed on the ground. We never brought them to restaurants except for one with a garden, owned by a friend, and with permission. We were far away from other diners, and they were always on a leash. We never allowed them near children and babies and waited for real pet lovers to engage them.

While consciousness for loving animals has improved, people have become inconsiderate and irrational. Comparing children to pets is a hot topic. As a parent, it is downright offensive to me when someone insinuates that restaurants accepting children are like perks or special services, like accommodating food allergies or ambiance. Children are people, just like you and me, and they are part of society. Pets should not be likened to them, nor should pet owners demand the same rights. This is ridiculous!

Moreover, some pet owners (or fur parents, as they are fashionably called nowadays), have gone beyond the line of common decency in public. They put their pets on dining tables and chairs, and even baby seats. There was a viral post where some fur parents were caught on camera using the baby changing table in a restroom to change their dog’s diaper. We’ve heard stories where some pet owners have their pets use the restaurant’s plates and bowls, the very same things people eat from. At malls, we can see dogs pooping on immaculate floors. Once, a very noisy chihuahua scratched my daughter’s leg at a restaurant, and the fur parents were very nonchalant about it. So do we still wonder why some restaurants do not allow pets?

The simplest concept is that food, animals, and public spaces do not mix well. Some people do not appreciate flying fur in their meals. Some people are not animal lovers. Some people have allergies. Babies, children, and the elderly can easily get sick from germs. Some people like quiet meals, not yapping dogs. These are hard-to-accept truths for pet lovers, but they are real. Unfortunately, people are less considerate nowadays, and manners seem to have diminished.

If we were to live in a civilized society, boundaries must be observed. We are free to love our pets in our own space. But let us restore respect and consideration for others when in public spaces.

Choco Mucho’s locals continued to step up without import Marlee Smith, turning back Cignal, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 27-25, in the PVL Reinforced Conference on Monday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Smith missed another supposed debut as the team is still processing her papers. But the all-Filipino Flying Titans, led by Maddie Madayag, still proved too much for the Super Spikers.

Madayag tallied 18 points off 11 kills, six blocks, and the game-winning ace while Isa Molde added with 17 points and 13 digs. Libero Thang Ponce, who endured a tough fall in the fourth set, also shone with 32 digs and 20 excellent receptions.

Choco Mucho fought back from a 23-21 deficit in the fourth set. Dindin Santiago-Manabat put the Flying Titans ahead for good, 26-25, before Madayag sealed the victory at the service line.

Deanna Wong tossed in 25 excellent sets, Des Cheng contributed 14 points and 12 excellent receptions, while Kat Tolentino scored 10 for Choco Mucho.

‘I think it really came down to our mindset. We knew we were facing some tough challenges, so we had to work together. And you could really see it in the game-on both defense and offense-we supported each other. That’s why we were able to get the win,’ said Choco Mucho coach Dante Alinsunurin in Filipino.

Choco Mucho eyes another win on Thursday against a surging PLDT side, which hasn’t lost in 14 games after sweeping the On Tour and Invitational, in their 6:30 p.m. duel at the same venue.

Vanie Gandler paced Cignal with 15 points and 12 receptions, picking up the slack with Greek import Eva Chantava limited to 10 points.

The Super Spikers take on the Farm Fresh Foxies also on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

A rescued Philippine hawk-eagle in Barangay San Jose Lower in Bulusan town, Sorsogon has been turned over to the Albay Park and Wildlife for treatment and rehabilitation.

Francisco Milla Jr., Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Bicol director, told the Inquirer in a phone interview on Monday that concerned residents found the hawk-eagle weak on Oct. 9 near a river and struggling to fly.

‘When they approached and examined it, they noticed that one of its legs was swollen and appeared broken, preventing it from moving properly,’ Milla said.

‘Once it fully recovers, we will release it back in Bulusan, which serves as its natural habitat,’ Milla added.

He urged the public that if they encounter this species, they should not harm it and must immediately report it to authorities for proper disposition.

‘The Philippine Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus philippensis) is listed under [ Department Administrative Order ] No. 2019-09 and classified as an endangered species. Let us conserve and protect them and continue supporting our Wildlife Conservation Program,’ he said.

Personnel of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) arrested a police patrolman and a security agency manager on Monday for the illegal sale of firearms following a buy-bust operation.

Maj. Hazel Tuazon, DCPO spokesperson, identified the suspects as a certain Louie, of the Vanguard Security Agency, and a certain Muhammad, of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 14 under Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR).

Both are residents of the Toril district here.

Tuazon said the suspects agreed to sell several firearms to an undercover police operative, and they agreed to consummate the transaction along Roxas Avenue, in front of the Ateneo de Davao University.

The entrapment operation was executed at 4:50 a.m. on Monday, leading Police Senior Master Sergeant Benjamin Mantilla Jr., who acted as the poseur-buyer, to confiscate two caliber 5.56 M4 rifles, a Colt Defense and a Bushmaster; and two caliber .45 pistols, a Colt and a Limcat. These were the objects of the supposed sale transaction.

Also seized were a 9mm-caliber Pietro Beretta pistol which is owned by the Philippine National Police; two caliber .45 magazines with six bullets; two 9mm-caliber magazines with four bullets; eight caliber 5.56 magazines of which three had 30-round ammunition, and five with 20-round ammunition; the vehicle used by the suspects; a Kevlar helmet; a mobile phone; a pistol belt; bandolier; and belt bag.

Recovered were a real P1,000 bill used as marked money for evidence gathering, and three rolls of boodle money.

The suspects, the seized firearms, along with other pieces of evidence, are now under the custody of the Sta. Ana police station.

The operation was conducted with the cooperation of various city and regional police units, fed by information from barangay-based informants and city and regional intelligence groups.

Three days earlier, another police officer was arrested in an entrapment operation in Barangay Sasa by personnel of the Bunawan police station in coordination with the City Intelligence Unit and the 1st City Mobile Force Company (CMFC1).

The arrested police officer was accused of involvement in illegal drugs and extortion. During the operation, the suspect was caught in possession of a sachet of suspected meth weighing 4.80 grams and marked money amounting to ?30,000.00 received from the complainant

The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the withdrawal of cases recently filed before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the multibillion-peso Pharmally scandal – a controversy that tainted the Duterte administration’s pandemic response.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the cases will be reviewed again, explaining that he wants them to be ‘ready for trial’ before being refiled.

‘I gave instructions to withdraw first the cases of Pharmally where there has been no arraignment yet with the Sandiganbayan, because I want to reevaluate the cases, I want to know the details, which are put into the cases, because it really matters,’ Remulla said in a press briefing on Monday afternoon.

‘I want the Sandiganbayan to have a good grasp of the cases immediately. What I want is for when we file the information at the Sandiganbayan, they are all ready for trial. And I don’t feel that kind of within the complaint that we have filed,’ he added.

He noted that the handling of the cases before lacked coordination among the fact-finding, evaluation, preliminary investigation, and prosecution teams.

‘Everybody was in the dark; it was not working as a complete team. That should be a fully laid-out plan. It can’t be segmented, with one team not knowing what the other is doing,’ Remulla said.

‘That is why I really thought it was wiser to withdraw these cases so that we could re-evaluate them, to make sure that the work done by the investigators, the Senate, and everyone involved in uncovering the Pharmally cases would not go to waste,’ he further explained.

A Senate blue ribbon committee probe from August 2021 to January 2022 found that Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. won contracts amounting to P11.5 billion despite having a paid-up capital of only P625,000. It was the single biggest chunk of government contracts for COVID-19 supplies awarded to private companies at the time.

The contracts included 8,000 BGI real-time fluorescent RT-PCR test kits, amounting to P600 million; 2,000 A*Star Fortitude RT-PCR test kits worth P688 million; and 41,400 BGI real-time fluorescent RT-PCR kits worth P2.877 billion.

Former Senator Richard ‘Dick’ Gordon, who led the probe as chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee earlier, urged Remulla to revisit the case and asserted that Duterte should be held responsible for defrauding the government at the height of the pandemic. /jpv

The Court of Appeals (CA) has ruled in favor of members of the indigenous Tagbanua tribe, denying an appeal over a land dispute in Narra town, Palawan, and affirming the return of the disputed property to them.

The CA’s 12th Division, in a decision in August, upheld the 2022 ruling of the Puerto Princesa City Regional Trial Court (RTC), which nullified the original certificate of title (OCT) under the Palawan Registry of Deeds and ordered the reconveyance of a 118,981-square meter parcel of land to the tribe members.

Even without a certificate of ancestral domain title, the appeals court said the indigenous peoples’ (IP) rights as members of the Tagbanua tribe remain ‘intact and legally protected, grounded not merely on statutory recognition but on their native title.’

This right, the CA added, ‘exists independently of formal documentation and arises from their long-standing occupation and cultivation of the subject property since time immemorial.’

The case stemmed from the complaint filed by Cristeta Batac-Espinosa and nine others in 2012 seeking to nullify the OCT of appellant Noel Pronto. This was after a Municipal Trial Court ordered the complainants ejected in 2008 and issued an alias writ of execution, which was subsequently served in 2012.

Batac-Espinosa and the other complainants said they were members of the Tagbanua tribe residing in Barangay Malinao, Narra, Palawan, and descendants of Manuel Batac and Alberta Pilandoc, both of whom were full-blooded indigenous Tagbanuas.

Due to Manuel’s diligence and dedication to farming, he gained ownership over several parcels of land located in the barangay, the complainants asserted.

Unlawful claim

These lands were later included in the certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) application filed by indigenous communities in Sitio Mariwara, Barangay Princess Urduja, Hacienda de Panacan and Sitios Catil and Malinao II, all in Barangay Malinao in Narra.

The disputed property, Lot 90 (Pls-23), measuring 118,981 square meters and surveyed on July 14, 1955, was among those covered by the application. Sometime in 1995, however, Pronto asserted ownership, showing the OCT as proof.

The complainants said Pronto threatened them with court litigation if they failed to vacate the property and relinquish possession of the land in his favor.

‘Out of fear of litigation and due to their limited understanding of legal processes, plaintiffs-appellees reluctantly acquiesced to Pronto’s demand and agreed to remain on the property as his tenants subject to the condition that a portion of their agricultural produce would be delivered to him,’ the CA said.

However, upon verification with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the complainants found out that the issuance of the OCT was unlawful.

In 2022, the RTC issued a decision declaring the OCT null and void and ordering the return of the subject property to the complainants.

When the case was elevated to the CA, Pronto argued the complainants’ mere claim of being Tagbanua tribe members was insufficient to prove that the land they occupy formed part of an ancestral domain under the criteria prescribed by the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997. He also contended that the mere filing of an application for a CADT did not, by itself, vested the subject property with the status of ancestral domain.

However, the CA, in the Aug. 20 ruling penned by Associate Justice Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob, agreed with the RTC’s findings that the complainants ‘hold a valid and superior claim’ over the disputed property, being members of Narra’s Tagbanua community.

The CA also noted that the subject land, being part of an ancestral domain, was never classified as ‘alienable and disposable public land.’ The court gave weight to the 1936 homestead application of the complainants, which was filed by their predecessor, Manuel.

‘Lastly, a Certification issued by the NCIP unequivocally affirmed that the property in question forms part of the ancestral domain of the Tagbanua tribe of Palawan and is presently pending the issuance of the corresponding CADT. Collectively, these pieces of evidence substantiate plaintiffs-appellees’ indigenous conception of ownership over the subject property,’ it said. /cb

The Philippine National Police Maritime Group (PNP MG) said it is monitoring ‘backdoor’ routes to prevent personalities tagged in flood control anomalies from fleeing the country.

The ‘backdoor pass’ refers to illegal exit points in the southern Philippines allegedly used to bypass port security and transfer people to Malaysia and eventually to other destinations abroad, as Sen. Raffy Tulfo revealed in a privilege speech in September 2024.

Asked about the possibility that those implicated in the flood control mess might escape through the ‘backdoor,’ PNP MG deputy director Col. Pedro Martirez Jr. said his unit is keeping a close watch.

‘That’s also among what we’re monitoring,’ he said in Filipino in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Monday.

‘If a case has now been filed against these personalities, we will immediately hold them to prevent them from leaving the country,’ he added.

The Maritime Group is the PNP’s unit tasked with overseeing police functions in the country’s territorial waters, including its ports of entry and exit.

At least 33 personalities in the alleged anomalies were the subject of immigration lookout bulletin orders requested by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure and issued by the Department of Justice.

The list includes President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s cousin and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, as well as former Senate President Francis Escudero, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, and former Senators Bong Revilla and Nancy Binay./mcm

As ‘Alipato at Muog’ continues to reap recognition from critics and audiences a year after its release, its director JL Burgos said its story and the search for his missing brother Jonas will continue.

The docu-film emerged as the biggest winner of the 48th Gawad Urian Awards, winning the Best Film, Best Editing, and Best Documentary awards. Last August, it also bagged the Best Picture at the 73rd Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (Famas) Awards.

‘Nakakataba talaga siya ng puso, nakakataas ng ego rin (Yes, it warms my heart. It boosts my ego, too), but what keeps us grounded is to tell the stories of those who disappeared,’ JL told Inquirer Entertainment in a chance interview after the Gawad Urian awards ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 11.

‘Oo, nakakataba ng puso ang ganitong mga parangal (receiving these awards makes my heart happy), but the story is not yet over. The search for Jonas continues. The search for justice continues,’ he continued.

Since its premiere at the 2024 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, ‘Alipato at Muog’ has been through a bittersweet journey, having faced an ‘X’ rating from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). It tells the story of the disappearance of JL’s brother Jonas, which the case was finalized in 2017 in favor of the Burgos family before the Supreme Court. With this in mind, the filmmaker said the point of ‘Alipato at Muog’ was to widen the public’s awareness of desaparecidos (or victims of enforced disappearances). He also explained that he doesn’t expect the docu-film to ‘change the world,’ but it will serve as a reminder of why these kinds of stories need to be told.

‘Konti lang ang nakakaalam ng kwento ng mga desaparecidos. Sila ay numero lang. Ang mga ganitong klaseng kwento ay pagpapakilala kung sino sila bago sila mawala at kung sino ang mga perpetrators,’ he said.

‘Ang tingin namin, pinapatahimik ang mga [kwento] ng mga disappeared, is gusto pa rin ng makapangyarihan ay manatili sa kapangyarihan. Kailangan siyang maikwento. We’re not expecting the film to change the world, but at least, magbigay kami ng konting kaalaman kung anong nangyayari,’ he further explained.

(Only a few people know the stories of the disappeared. For them, they are just mere numbers. These kinds of stories introduce them before they disappeared, and their perpetrators. For me, these kinds of stories are silenced because those in power want to maintain their standing. But they deserve to be told. We’re not expecting the film to change the world, but at least, we can share our knowledge on what’s happening.) When asked why stories like ‘Alipato at Muog’ continue to face censorship, JL said matter-of-factly that ‘people in power don’t want dissent.’ Despite this, he hoped the docu-film’s success was a reminder of why Filipino documentaries and ‘braver films? need bigger platforms to tell their stories.

‘The people in power wants to maintain the status. Ito ang mga nakikinabang sa flood control, porsyento nila sa raket, at kung sino man ang tumutol sa pagnanakaw sa ating lipunan, nais nilang patahimikin. They don’t want dissent. They don’t want to expose the [atrocities],’ he said. ‘Kung anong nakikita natin sa lipunan ngayon, ginagawa nila ang pagpapatahimik sa mga nais tumutol sa ganitong klaseng patakaran.’

(The people in power want to maintain the status quo. These are people who benefit from flood control projects, questionable practices, and these thieves want to silence those who aren’t in favor of their actions. They don’t want dissent. They don’t want to expose the atrocities. What we see in society today is the silencing of those who are against their ways.’

JL is also preparing for his next project, a full-length film called ‘Ganggang,’ which is an entry to the 2026 iteration of the Cinemalaya Film Festival

I’m used to being broke, and right now, most ardently, I need to complain about it.

It’s always Monday that brings me down. That doesn’t make me unique or special. Everyone dreads Mondays. But for me, it signals the start of another cycle. Another unwanted push to stand up and return to whatever version of hell I’ve unwillingly placed myself in.

I’m 23. Just starting out. Broke. From a lower middle-class background in a Third World, corrupt country-the Philippines. Not from a broken family, just a broke upbringing. Like many others.

We always hear that it’s important to know where you came from, and maybe that’s true. But sometimes, that knowledge doesn’t ground you. It confines you. The angst born from poverty and the forced romanticism shaped by Filipino humility and pride become the very thing that both inspires and exhausts us. It pulls at us, irritates us, and drags us into a depth with the fakest, subtlest smile we never asked for.

Every day, we’re expected to live and endure. Today, I am not meant to endure. It’s tiring.

I get jealous of other people’s success. I congratulate them, yes, but deep down, I hate how they make me feel so small. So worthless. I worked my ass off in college. I did well. But even with a job, I have a little money. Every fiber of my being feels insignificant. Everyone else seems to be doing okay. Or maybe they’re just better at pretending.

Back then, I was just a student. Studying, laughing, trying to enjoy life-those were luxuries I didn’t realize then. Now, I work. I worry. I think about rent. I think about whether I’ll have enough for a full meal. I think about how family expenses are no longer someone else’s responsibility. They’re partly mine now-sometimes.

Even something as trivial as adding items to an online shopping cart feels like a cruel joke. I pile in things I’ll never buy, just another way to distract myself from reality.

Feeling all of this heaviness and helplessness makes me feel guilty. Guilty for even feeling at all.

I complain. I blame the government. I curse corrupt politicians. That’s how I cope. Activism, once something noble, started to feel more like a personal release than a communal or collective act. A way to blow off steam. It became self-soothing. I made it about myself when it should have been ours.

Everything became too much and too expensive. Not just every bilihin, but every emotion I felt.

Nothing feels right or liberating anymore. Even writing, something that once brought me comfort, now feels like entrapment. I question whether I’ve already been reduced to this one identity: broke, tired, angry.

I often wonder if there’s any real depth in what I’m going through. I don’t even know if this reflection qualifies as a proper essay, or if it’s just better kept in a private journal or buried in a forgotten blog post. Feeling broke-truly and constantly-pulls a person in so many directions that you start to lose track of what actually matters. But what haunts me most is the realization that I’m probably suffering less than many others. I’m privileged enough to own a laptop, to have had access to education, to know how to express this heaviness in words. That realization makes the guilt even worse.

I feel like I’m not good enough because I’m not earning enough. I feel broke not only in terms of money, but in my sense of self-worth and ability to contribute meaningfully. I live in a society that romanticizes hardship, glorifies self-sacrifice as the highest form of virtue, and teaches us to measure our value by how much we are willing to endure without breaking. When we do break, we’re expected to carry on anyway-quietly, even gracefully.

There are days when I wish people were more honest about their pain, struggles, failures. But instead, we hide behind borrowed quotes, curated inspiration, pretensions, and the illusion that everyone else has it figured out. I don’t have the answers to these things. I just know that for people like me, who feel like we’re not good enough and who are constantly struggling just to get by, surviving is already resistance.

There’s beauty in grit, and there’s a certain je ne sais quoi in embracing the ugliness of the human experience to carry on. These days, everything feels so important. Everything is made into a big deal. Everyone wants to be an inspiration-but most of us can’t afford to inspire anyone because we can’t even find a reason to celebrate ourselves.

There’s so much more to the chaos we live in during this modern era, and sometimes, it’s okay to acknowledge and even highlight the negativity we carry. It’s okay to say that we’re not okay.

Right now, this Monday rant-this usual cycle of self-loathing-is poured out into this space. Maybe it’s meant to be kept. Maybe it’s meant to be seen and judged. And maybe, someone else will read it and feel a little less alone.

Mylene Dizon did not hold back when she voiced out her stand against corruption during her acceptance speech for best actress at the 2025 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival on Sunday, Oct. 12.

The best actress award was for her performance in the full-length entry ‘Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan,’ which also stars Dolly de Leon, Jojit Lorenzo, and Nanding Josef.

The film tells the story of political strategist Kiko, history professor Bea, ‘disillusioned speechwriter’ David, and election lawyer Mela, coping with the aftermath of a ‘painful political defeat.’

‘Sa lahat po ng bumubuo ng aming pelikula na ‘Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan,’ congratulations sa atin. Ang pelikula namin ay tungkol sa hope, sa pag-asa, yes, may pag-asa. May pag-asa na balang araw, babalik sa’tin lahat ng ating pera na ninakaw ng mga hayop na hydra na ‘yan,’ she said, much to the cheers of the audience.

(To everyone involved in our film ‘Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan,’ congratulations to us. Our film is about hope and trust in the future. Yes, there is hope. There is hope that one day, the money stolen from us by these God-forsaken hydras will be returned to us.)

‘Congratulations, Cinemalaya! Napakaganda nitong taon na ‘to, lalo na para sa’kin. Pero hindi ako nag-outfit, hindi ako handa! Maraming salamat po ulit (Congratulations, Cinemalaya! This has been an amazing year, especially for me. But I didn’t wear a flashy outfit, I wasn’t prepared! Thank you very much again),’ Dizon continued in jest while showing off her ensemble.

This marks Dizon’s second Best Actress award from the independent film festival after the 2008 film ‘100.’

The veteran actress was also a participant of last year’s Cinemalaya festival, where she took on the lead role in ‘The Hearing,’ which tells the story of a mom grappling with the aftermath of her deaf son’s sexual abuse.