Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Apeco) eyes partnerships with Spanish engineering firm IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture S.A.U. and major trade show organization Fira Barcelona to develop vital infrastructure projects.

During its investment mission in Spain, Apeco and IDOM director for logistics and operations Jaume Mas Vilella discussed plans to construct a food and logistics hub and port infrastructure in Casiguran town in Aurora province.

On the other hand, Apeco and Fira Barcelona International CEO Ricard Zapatero explored the possibility of building a world-class convention center at the ecozone.

Apeco will form a working group to draft the memoranda of understanding and finalize the list of projects to be undertaken with IDOM and Fira.

Apeco aims to propose a feasibility study to IDOM for the five- to 10-hectare food and logistics hub, which aims to boost agricultural production, develop value-adding industries and enhance the local food supply chain.

The hub is modeled after Mercabarna, a 100-hectare wholesale and logistics complex in Barcelona that supplies fresh food to the public. It also houses 600 companies engaged in the distribution, preparation, importing and exporting of fresh and frozen products.

Apeco president and CEO Gil Taway IV said IDOM had signified interest in assisting Apeco to design its port facilities and cold chain logistics system and secure financing from the Asian Development Bank.

‘IDOM’s expertise in large-scale infrastructure will help strengthen the ecozone’s logistics and agri-industrial capabilities,’ Taway said.

Taway said the hub would complement agricultural and fisheries-based economic activities in Casiguran, allowing farmers and fishers to gain closer access to markets.

Infra backbone

The partnership is also aligned with Apeco’s goal of making Casiguran the ‘fishing capital of the Pacific’, with Taway saying this could help establish the infrastructure backbone to support food security, investment and job creation.

IDOM is involved in the development of the National Food Hub in Clark and the country’s Food Logistics Action Agen

Meanwhile, Fira Barcelona, a consortium composed of Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Government and the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, expressed willingness to help Apeco conduct a feasibility study for the proposed center.

It also suggested incorporating commercial smart-city developments to ensure sustainability of the convention center. This is seen to promote economic growth and tourism in Aurora – particularly in Dinalungan, Casiguran and Dilasag corridor – by staging meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions in the area.

Janine Gutierrez uncontrollably burst into tears hours before her birthday as she was reminded of how her late grandmother Pilita Corrales would have celebrated the occasion with her.

Gutierrez, who turned 36 last Oct. 2, showed moments from her birthday trip to Africa with her actor boyfriend Jericho Rosales, through her Instagram page on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

In the caption, the actress narrated, ‘We were having dinner the day before my birthday and when Echo said happy birthday because it was already midnight in Manila, out of the blue, I couldn’t stop crying.’

‘I could hear mamita’s voice in my head singing happy birthday and it just hit me,’ she continued, referring to Corrales. ‘She would always sing happy birthday in her full singing voice and it just kept playing in my head and I really couldn’t stop crying over my seafood like a baby. I don’t know what happened, but I guess that’s grief.’

Gutierrez then disclosed that her yaya, whom she and her siblings treat as their second mother, has been seeking treatment for an undisclosed illness-which made her think twice about leaving for her trip.

‘My siblings said I should go and it would be okay. And then the day before I leave, as I’m about to pack, I find this old letter from mamita as I get my last box of things from my old condo,’ she wrote, showing a photo of the handwritten letter.

‘I don’t even know when this was from but I also kept crying when I found it cos it felt like a message from her saying I should go. Don’t worry,’ she continued.

The actress nonetheless said that she is grateful to be blessed with another year and with people who have been nothing but supportive.

‘It’s been the toughest year but I’m just filled with gratitude for everyone who’s held mine and my family’s hand throughout everything,’ she stated. ‘I’m so grateful for my family and Echo and my friends and my work families and all of you who’ve been there.’

‘I’m so grateful for this trip. It turned out amazing,’ she added. ‘So here’s a dump from my actual birthday. Hindi na ko umiyak. Life is beautiful, just keep showing up.’

Corrales, the mother of Janine’s dad Monching Gutierrez, died last April at the age of 85.

In search of material for a column, I visited the Ateneo Rizal Library the other day and browsed aimlessly in the periodical section. There, I came across bound volumes of the pro-Ferdinand Marcos Sr. magazine ‘Republic Weekly.’ In it was a series on Dovie Beams and her lurid affair with the former president. The first article that caught my attention was suggestively titled ‘Dovie Turns the Screw,’ written by someone hiding under the initials ‘A.E.’ I was very disappointed that someone had cut out all the sexy photos from the article. The photo captions left a lot to the imagination. A missing vertical photo was captioned: ‘Dovie Beams Hungry and Angry,’ and the other missing horizontal or landscape photo was captioned: ‘Miss Beams posing for photomen in the buff.’ Almost all the photos in the series that ran from April 1971 were cut out, and I wondered: who would have done this? Was it a horny Ateneo student or professor? Or was it a prude librarian who wanted to keep the stacks free of pornography?

Going over the whole Dovie Beams series over several issues of Republic Weekly made me reflect on the practice of history. First, did I find the material, or did the material find me? I could have opened issues of the Philippines Free Press, Graphic, Asia Philippines Leader, Sunday Times Magazine, etc., but I chose Republic Weekly because it was not familiar to me. Finding Dovie Beams was pure serendipity. History in the university setting is either placed under the humanities or social sciences department because the discipline is both about creative expression and rigorous research and analysis. In the humanities and the sciences, all scholars go through their so-called eureka moments.

Second, looking at the missing photos of Miss Beams and being curious about them underscores the fact that until the time machine is invented, the historian cannot truly go back and know the past fully. At best, the historian tries to get as close to the truth as possible, following in the tracks or traces of the past through the primary sources. What happens if the sources are incomplete, nonexistent, or worse, biased, wrong, or outright lies?

Historians digging through current Philippine newspapers know that there are no newspapers on dates that fall on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Having no Philippine newspapers on these dates does not mean that nothing happened on those days, that time and history stood still. This reminds me of a trick test question I have in an exam. I asked for the most significant event that happened in the Philippines on Thursday, Dec. 31, 1844. Students couldn’t find it because that day ‘disappeared,’ thanks to Spanish Governor General Narciso Claveria, who realized that the Philippine calendar was off or 11 days ahead of other places where the Gregorian calendar was adopted. To correct the discrepancy, Claveria decreed that Wednesday, Dec. 30, 1844, would be followed by Friday, Dec. 31, 1844. Remember this is the same governor who decreed in 1849 that, for census and tax purposes, all Filipinos had to adopt a surname chosen from the ‘Catalogo alfabetico de apellidos (Alphabetical catalog of surnames).’

Libraries and archives are the lifeblood of history and historians, but these institutions cannot collect everything. When I go over the periodicals collected by the Rizal Library, I realize that these are mostly broadsheets. Where are the tabloids? In terms of magazines, the library did not collect movie titles, song hits, or local pornography. I was surprised that the Rizal Library has the Baguio Midland Courier and other local papers, but these are either in English or Filipino. What about materials in other languages, like Ilocano or Kapampangan? What about periodicals in Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Bisaya, Maranao, Manobo, or Subanen? In the Rizal Library special collections, we have materials in Spanish, even recorded oral epics from Palawan. In a country with over a hundred different languages and many different ethnolinguistic groups, how can we weave a true Philippine history when what passes for it is basically a local history of Manila? When I think of a national history these days, I think in plural terms, because what we have is not one Philippine history but rather many Philippine histories.

While the content of the Republic Weekly in 1971 was old news, there was a lot that was strangely contemporary. Politics filled the first sections of the magazines, followed by showbiz news and features. Some people featured in 1971 are still in the news, like the immortal Juan Ponce Enrile. Tirso Cruz III, in 1971, was part of a movie loveteam with Nora Aunor. Today, he is the chair of the Film Development Council of the Philippines. Annabelle Rama, controversial today for what she says, was provocative in 1971 on the Republic Weekly cover, her blouse open slightly to provide a peek into one of her breasts. Browsing through the Republic Weekly of 1971 made me realize that the historian’s true task is to write and educate so that the present will stop reading like the past.

Residents of Mobo town in Masbate are still in need of aid after Typhoon Opong (international name: Bualoi) struck the province last week.

In a phone interview on Tuesday, Mayor Raymund Doni Salvacion said around 98 percent of the town’s 50,000 residents across 29 barangays were severely affected, with many losing their homes.

‘We are in the recovery stage, but we are in dire need of construction materials, particularly GI sheets, to rebuild their homes,’ Salvacion said.

He added that most residents are currently staying in tents serving as temporary shelters.

‘Power has not yet been restored in the municipality, and rechargeable or solar lamps would be a great help for affected residents,’ he said.

He said relief operations continue, but local officials say more assistance is needed, particularly for rebuilding efforts

Tropical Storm Nakri may enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and be locally named as Quedan on Thursday afternoon or evening, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

In its 5 p.m. forecast on Wednesday, Pagasa tracked that Nakri may become the 17th cyclone of the year, but will exit PAR after 12 hours.

Nakri was located 1725 kilometers east of extreme northern Luzon, moving north-northwestward at 25 kilometers per hour (kph).

It is packing maximum sustained winds of 65 kph and gusts of up to 80 kph, Pagasa recorded.

Though Nakri may enter PAR, the state weather bureau said that the cyclone is unlikely to have an effect on the country, and it is less likely to develop into a typhoon.

Meanwhile, three weather systems continue to bring rain all over the country on Wednesday evening, Pagasa added.

A northeasterly wind flow is expected to cause rain in Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Norte, and Apayao.

On the other hand, a shear line or the intersection of the northeasterly wind flow and the easterlies will bring rain clouds and isolated thunderstorms in Mainland Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, most of Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Rizal and Quezon overnight.

Additionally, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, where the winds from the northern and southern hemispheres meet, will carry scattered rains in Visayas, Mindanao and Palawan. /mr

Pressure mounts on the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to open its hearings to the public, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself joining the calls of different stakeholders to promote more transparency in its investigations.

‘The President, in all instances, wants transparency. Every investigation must be transparent, with nothing hidden,’ Palace press officer Claire Castro said in a briefing on Wednesday.

‘However, how the ICI will carry this out – how it will make its proceedings public, how it will ensure transparency, and to what extent – that is up to the ICI. Still, the President continues to advocate for transparency in all investigations,’ she added.

When Marcos created ICI last month, he assured it would be fully independent and would not meddle with its work, especially on the way its three members would conduct hearings and investigations.

Castro said the President was not even asking for updates with the ongoing investigation of the ICI.

No approval needed

‘The reports are entirely in the hands of the ICI, and whatever recommendations they make will come from them alone as they do not need the President’s approval,’ she added.

The ICI, however, maintained its position of keeping its hearings in the flood control fiasco behind closed doors. ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka said it was the commission’s way to avoid ‘trial by publicity,’ and to not allow itself to be used for any political leverage or agenda by any individual or group.

Past and present lawmakers have been urging the ICI to open its hearings to the public to show Filipinos that there would be no coverup and its investigations on the flood control mess would not protect anyone. Despite their differences in many issues, the Catholic Church and the Filipino megachurch Iglesia ni Cristo – both politically influential religious institutions in the country – agreed that by ensuring transparency in the ICI’s proceedings and findings was the only way to restore public trust. Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio also called for the ICI to let the public have access to its hearings, warning that the body was ‘losing its credibility very fast.’

In an interview on dzBB on Wednesday, Carpio said he was ‘very suspicious’ of the ICI’s decision to make its hearings private, when even criminal trials of the courts were open to the public.

If the ICI was not amenable to live-streaming the hearings, similar to the congressional inquiries on the flood control projects, the media at least should be allowed to cover these.

‘Because of these closed door hearings, people will lose faith in that ICI. That’s the number one thing that they have to correct,’ Carpio said. Former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, who was also an SC justice, shared the same view, expressing doubts over the results of the ICI’s insistence to conduct its hearings in secrecy.

‘I don’t understand why. Because even the courts, sitting as courts, it’s open to the public. It’s only in the interest of morality and decency that the judge may conduct hearings in private,’ she told journalist Karen Davila in an interview.

Carpio-Morales also rebuffed ICI’s defense that it wanted to prevent trial by publicity and undue political pressure in keeping its hearings behind closed doors.

‘The mere fact that Congress or the Senate conducts hearings openly does not make them a trial by publicity. It is the ICI [members] who will decide, but their decision will only be recommendatory. It should be the Ombudsman who should do the investigating,’ she added.

Malacañang maintained that the ICI, and not the Office of the Ombudsman, should take the lead in investigating alleged anomalies in flood control projects and related infrastructure.

Delays in probe

Castro dismissed calls to abolish the ICI just because Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla was appointed as the next ombudsman.

While Remulla was familiar with the flood control projects under scrutiny, Castro rejected the idea that the ombudsman should conduct the investigation by itself, raising concerns about possible delays.

‘The ombudsman does not focus only on flood control projects. There are many cases that the Ombudsman needs to pay attention to. So, we do not see this as a reason to abolish or end the work of the ICI,’ she said.

Castro told critics: ‘Would they really want the Ombudsman alone to handle all of this? How long would it take for a single case to be resolved that way? That’s why there truly needs to be an independent commission that will focus on the issue.’ She added that the work of the ombudsman and the Department of Justice would be expedited once the ICI completed its document gathering and preliminary investigations into the anomalous flood control projects.

Plans are ongoing for another massive protest against corruption to be held this month, according to Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) chair Teodoro ‘Teddy’ Casiño.

‘There are suggestions that aside from the one on Nov. 30, another big centralized rally should also be held this month. So these are the things that are being discussed now. The various sectors are also preparing their own mass actions, which we are encouraging because of what we are seeing,’ Casiño said in an interview with the Inquirer.

The Bayan chair also urged local communities to hold their own mass actions, highlighting the importance of ‘public pressure’ for the government to continue investigating corruption in infrastructure projects.

‘We are encouraging the various communities, including schools and churches and homeowners associations, to organize their own [mass] actions. Let’s start with local actions, and then let’s make them bigger and bigger,’ Casiño said.

The Church Leaders Council for National Transformation, the organizers of the Sept. 21 ‘Trillion Peso March’ anticorruption protest, announced that it will hold another rally on Nov. 30 in commemoration of Bonifacio Day. According to the religious group, 100 groups are expected to attend the gathering.

Queenmaker Arnold Vegafria has acquired a handful of international pageant franchises throughout the years under his ALV Pageant Circle. A recent acquisition – Miss Asia Pacific International – was once just a dream for him, he said.

‘When I started in the business of pageantry, this is one of my bucket list to get this pageant, to be part of this pageant. Why? Because I believe this is one of the oldest pageants in the world,’ he said during the ‘National Directors’ Night’ hosted by the pageant organization at the Temple of Leah in Cebu City on Monday evening, Oct. 6.

Every year, the Miss Asia Pacific International pageant hosts the national directors who visit the Philippines for the pageant season. The recent gathering was scaled down in solidarity with those affected by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake on Sept. 30, said Eva Patalinjug-Lim, the pageant’s president.

Vegafria had just acquired the license for this year’s edition of the international pageant. Philippine bet Anita Rose Gomez was crowned at the recent Miss Grand International Philippines competition, one of his national searches.

‘I’m so happy to be part of this because this is an original from the Philippines, one of the biggest in the Philippines, of course I want to be a part of this,’ he confessed.

Among the international partners of his ALV Pageant Circle are Miss World, Miss Grand International, Reina Hispanoamericana, and Face of Beauty International.

Before he acquired the Miss Asia Pacific International license for the Philippines, it has been with the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant since the time of its inception in 1968. The national and global contests were established by the same personalities.

Last year, the franchise left the Mutya ng Pilipinas organization for the first time, and was acquired by Empire Philippines, organizer of the Miss Universe Philippines pageant.

The former owners of the Mutya ng Pilipinas and Miss Asia Pacific International pageants truned over ownership to the Tans of Cebu, but the family later divested from the national contest to concentrate on the global competition.

Vegafria thanked Miss Asia Pacific International Pres. Eva Patalinjug-Lim and officers Onin Mas and Vicky Bugayong for trusting him with the franchise.

He said it was when he chanced upon Mas in Taiwan for another international pageant where he signified his desire to acquire the Miss Asia Pacific International franchise.

‘I said, ‘if the franchise of the former owner expired, try my organization, and I will do my best to promote the [Miss Asia Pacific International] in the Philippines,’ Vegafria shared.

Since taking over the Miss World Philippines Organization in 2017, and establishing his own Miss Grand International Philippines search subsequently, Vegafria had produced Reina Hispanoamericana winners Teresita Ssen ‘Winwyn’ Marquez and Dia Mate, Miss Eco International titleholders Cynthia Thomalla and Kathleen Paton, inaugural Miss Multinational queen Sophia Senoron, current Face of Beauty International Jeanne Isabelle Bilasano, 2024 Universal Woman Maria Gigante, and reigning Miss Grand International Christine Juliane ‘CJ’ Opiaza.

Gomez hopes to join Marquez, Thomalla, Senoron, Gigante, and Bilasano as Vegafria’s first entrants to their respective pageants who succesfully clinched crowns.

The 2025 Miss Asia Pacific International coronation night will be held at the Cebu Coliseum on Oct. 8. Forty-three delegates from around the world are competing this year.

Malacañang on Wednesday said there is no need to abolish the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s appointment of a new Ombudsman.

The remarks came after questions were raised about the possibility of dissolving the recently formed super body and letting the Office of the Ombudsman handle investigations into anomalous flood-control projects.

‘The Ombudsman, after all, is not focused solely on flood control projects; there are many other cases that also require the Ombudsman’s attention. So, we don’t see this as a reason to abolish or end the work of the ICI, because the ICI is specifically focused on investigating irregularities in flood control projects and other infrastructure,’ Castro explained speaking in Filipino.

‘The work and investigations of the Ombudsman and the DOJ will proceed much faster if they already have complete documents provided by the ICI,’ she also said.

The Office of the Ombudsman is the institution empowered to investigate illegal, unjust, or improper acts and omissions of public officials.

According to Castro, the ICI is necessary because it focuses on gathering and investigating documents so that when everything is submitted and recommended for filing, the process becomes more efficient.

‘And once the review is completed and it is found that a case should indeed be filed, the DOJ and the Ombudsman will be able to file it much faster,’ she also said in Filipino.

Meanwhile, the Palace official maintained that the ICI does not need to report or provide updates to Marcos regarding its findings since it is an independent body.

The ICI is composed of Chairperson Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and members Rogelio ‘Babes’ Singson and Rossana Fajardo.

Brian Hosaka serves as executive director of the ICI.

Former Philippine National Police chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. was also named as special adviser and investigator for the commission, replacing Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who had served only as a special adviser but not as an investigator.

There are no active attempts to unseat Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III at present, according to Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano.

Speaking to reporters in a press conference on Wednesday, Cayetano said the rumors of a possible leadership change in the Senate might be coming from supporters of both the majority and minority blocs.

Cayetano categorically stated that no resolutions are being circulated among senators and that they are not expecting any leadership change before the Senate adjourns its session on Friday.

‘There is no active courting,’ Cayetano said.

Echoing Sotto’s earlier statements, Cayetano said he had a brief phone conversation with the Senate President, during which he made it clear that he is not seeking his colleagues’ support to unseat Sotto.

‘We in the minority are not talking about whether there’s already someone, or who it might be, or how and what would happen, because we believe they’re still happy in the majority. And I think we have a role to play in the minority. But usually, it doesn’t happen when it’s noisy, because everyone’s on guard,’ Cayetano said.

‘But you can’t take it away from the supporters of the majority who are vocal on social media about not wanting any changes, and you can’t take it away from our supporters across the country who want a change in leadership,’ he added.

Rumors circulating on social media have pointed to Cayetano as Sotto’s alleged successor as Senate President.

Sotto, however, dismissed the speculation, stressing that he does not expect any moves to unseat him in the plenary before the scheduled adjournment on October 10./mcm