Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Filipino golf icon Miguel Tabuena is set to take on the world’s best golfers at International Series Philippines.

The event is the sixth of nine LIV Golf tournaments-all sanctioned by the Asian Tour-held across Asia and the Middle East. The tournaments offer the end-of-the-year rankings leader promotion to the LIV Golf League.

The Philippine leg will take place from Oct. 23 to 26 at the Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club, and will feature a world-class field of golf legends and major champions such as Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, Charles Schwartzel, and Louis Oosthuizen.

Tabuena is currently 48th in the overall rankings. Tabuena has previously won multiple Philippine Golf Tour titles, including two Asian Tour victories, and even represented the country in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He also won the Idaho Open in 2021 against PGA Tour player Brad Marek.

‘The international series is something I really plan my schedule around so I can peak at the right time for these events. I call it the ‘majors’ of the Asian tour,’ says Tabuena ahead of the upcoming tournament.

Justice Undersecretary Frederick Vida will be officer-in-charge of the Department of Justice (DOJ) once incumbent Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla assumes his new position as Ombudsman.

Vida, former mayor of Mendez-Nunez in Cavite was appointed DOJ assistant secretary in January, 2023 and later become the Undersecretary in charge of Finance, Administrative Service, and Personnel Cluster.

Remulla said he has not yet discussed with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. his possible successor.

‘We have not discussed my possible replacement. We prioritized the appointment of an OIC or acting Secretary,’ Remulla said.

The Social Security System (SSS) has stepped up efforts to collect unpaid social security premium contributions, with at least 200 individuals recently served with demand letters, officials confirmed.

SSS account officer Jan Michael Olaivar told reporters that employers who fail to comply could face criminal prosecution.

‘Usually, they would eventually settle if they know it is the end of the line,’ Olaivar said.

He added that settling obligations is crucial, warning that delinquency cases usually reach the courts if employers fail to comply.

Olaivar noted that three high-profile businesses were recently issued warrants of arrest in connection with similar violations, underscoring the seriousness of the crackdown by SSS.

Among these is a prominent bar and a pizza house.

Under the law, employers and self-employed individuals are required to remit monthly contributions to the SSS. Failure to do so can result in penalties, demand letters, or even criminal charges for repeat offenders.

The agency urged members to take immediate action to update their accounts, reminding them that contributions ensure eligibility for benefits such as retirement pensions, sickness coverage, and other social protection programs.

The magnitude 6.9 tremor that shook Cebu province on the night of Sept. 30 did more than topple buildings, turn homes into rubble, and kill dozens of people in its wake. It also exposed the hard truth that the Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations, has not learned enough from its past.

For all the annual earthquake drills and apocalyptic warnings about the ‘Big One,’ the latest calamity to strike Central Visayas shows that the country remains perilously unprepared. Last week, once again, our people were caught flat-footed and paid the price of neglect. ‘This is a tragedy of unprecedented scale in recent memory,’ Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro said.

But memory is short in this country. Twelve years ago, over 200 people died and almost 1,000 were hurt in Cebu and neighboring Bohol, when a stronger tremor, at 7.2 magnitude, devastated the Visayas on Oct. 15, 2013.

Scientists have long cautioned of high-magnitude earthquakes in this corner of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and Filipinos are certainly no strangers to deadly temblors. Thus, the terrible cost of the Cebu quake, including a death toll that has climbed to 68, could not be blithely dismissed as nature’s doing-it’s also man-made.

A chilling projection

The 2004 Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study, conducted by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), offered a chilling projection: if a magnitude 7.2 quake struck the Valley Fault System running through the capital, deaths could reach into the tens of thousands.

But even though the study was disseminated far and wide, it didn’t lead to any blueprint for action. In 2019, the risk consultancy firm Philippine Strategic Associates released the Metro Manila Earthquake Vulnerability Assessment, which built on earlier research including the JICA study. Its forecast on the impact of a similar tremor hitting the National Capital Region was the stuff of nightmares: at least 52,000 dead, 500,000 others injured, 500 fires breaking out and nearly 14 percent of the country’s gross domestic product wiped out.

This, according to the study, is what awaits a megacity that continues to expand vertically, often without regard for compliance with building codes, as well as horizontally. And still, the capital sprawls unchecked, riddled with unsafe buildings and settlements planted on fault lines.

Everyday discipline

What must be done? First, disaster preparedness cannot remain a once-a-year drill. These ‘duck, cover and hold’ exercises have their value, but they are token gestures unless communities internalize them as everyday discipline. Preparedness must be institutionalized at the barangay level, taught consistently in schools, integrated into the mandates of local governments and woven into regulations governing both the public and private sectors.

The outrageous incident in Cebu of business process outsourcing employees allegedly being forced to return to work after the quake must not be allowed to happen again.

Second, the government must finally enforce building codes with ironclad resolve. This means ensuring that developers, contractors, and engineers adhere to safety standards, rooting out the corruption that allows substandard buildings to rise in exchange for bribes, and retrofitting old and critical infrastructure like hospitals, bridges, airports, and schools.

Third, it’s high time we stopped turning schools into makeshift shelters. Instead, dedicated, earthquake-resistant evacuation centers should be constructed in every town and city, stocked with prepositioned food, water, medicine, and sanitation supplies.

Fourth, early warning systems must go beyond perfunctory text blasts. Community-based information campaigns, house-to-house preparedness drives and local risk maps must be developed and distributed.

Trapped in endless cycle

Ordinary Filipinos must not only be aware of the risks but also know what specific actions to take when the ground starts shaking. They must be provided comprehensible disaster information, without which warnings remain abstract and easily ignored.

Finally, disaster governance must be freed from bureaucratic fragmentation. Agencies like the Phivolcs, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and local governments must act in concert, assuming the worst-case scenario rather than the best one.

The Cebu quake is a grim reminder that every disaster is a test of memory. Time and again, we have vowed never again after tragedy, only to lapse into complacency as the debris is cleared and the dead are buried.

Moderate to heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected within two hours in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region on Tuesday afternoon, according to the state weather bureau.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) advised residents to take precautions against possible flash floods and landslides.

In a separate update, Pagasa said Typhoon Halong remains outside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR).

It is also monitoring a low-pressure area which has developed into a tropical depression, but likewise remains outside PAR.

Neither system is forecast to enter PAR nor directly affect the country. /gsg

Power has been restored in 24 barangays in storm-hit Masbate province as of Monday, the Masbate Electric Cooperative, Inc. (MASELCO) reported.

Out of 328 barangays connected to the cooperative, 7.32 percent have had their power restored.

The barangays where power has been restored consist of 10 in Masbate City, three in Mandaon, three in Uson, six in Mobo, and one each in Balud and Cataingan.

‘MASELCO linemen and Task Force teams are working tirelessly to restore power to all affected areas,’ the cooperative’s social media post read.

Restoration efforts continue as MASELCO asked consumers for ‘patience, understanding, and cooperation.’

‘Do not touch or attempt to fix any wires near your home; doing so can cause severe electric shock, injury, or even death,’ it said.

Masbate was among the hardest hit provinces when Severe Tropical Storm Opong (international name Bualoi) hit the country last month.

MASELCO estimated the storm’s damage to electricity at PHP390.3 million

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada will charge former Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez with perjury for linking him to anomalous government infrastructure projects in congressional hearings.

Estrada’s office made the announcement in an advisory on Monday, saying the senator will file the charges against Hernandez before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, October 7.

At a hearing in the House of Representatives on Sept. 8, Hernandez said Estrada inserted P355 million in the 2025 national budget for various flood control projects in Bulacan.

He added that Estrada was given 30 percent of the amount as ‘standard operating procedure’ or a kickback.

In response, Estrada said he would file charges against Hernandez as he denied the accusations against him, describing these as ‘imaginary and made-up.’

Jinggoy’s challenge

The senator likewise reiterated his challenge for both him and Hernandez to undergo a lie-detector test to determine who between them is telling the truth.

Estrada said the claim that he secured P355 million in infrastructure deals in Bulacan was unfounded, as any line item from the 2025 General Appropriations Act could be linked to any senator.

Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon had dismissed Hernandez, Construction section chief Jaypee Mendoza, and accountant Juanito Mendoza of the Bulacan first engineering district office after they were found guilty of disloyalty to the Republic and to the Filipino people, grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

‘Accordingly, they are hereby ordered dismissed from the service, with accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, forfeiture of retirement benefits, except accrued leave credits, and cancellation of civil service eligibility, pursuant to Section 73 of the 2025 RACCS,’ Dizon said in his order.

The decision was handed down after the three were charged administratively for irregularities in the implementation of some flood control projects in the engineering district.

Dizon added that the dismissal of the officials ‘is without prejudice to the filing of appropriate civil or criminal actions before the proper authorities.’

It didn’t look like Javi Gomez de Liaño had any trouble in his first official game back in the PBA.

Magnolia turned to Gomez de Liaño for an 80-73 win over Barangay Ginebra to open their Philippine Cup campaign with a bang on Sunday night at Araneta Coliseum.

The University of the Philippines product hardly missed a beat despite coming off a year-long absence from the PBA.

‘I guess that’s one thing I’ve learned playing overseas, adapt right away to any system,’ the do-it-all forward said after scoring 14 points built on four buckets from the three-point area.

‘That was my problem back in college and my first year in the pros.’

Gomez de Liaño left the PBA last year to sign with Korean Basketball League team Anyang JKJ Red Boosters, but barely had any opportunity to show what he used to do when he was with the Dyip prior to his PBA departure.

So he returned and found a new home as part of Magnolia. The Hotshots acquired the rights to Gomez de Liaño after traded away Jerrick Ahanmisi.

‘[Before] it took time for me to adjust but now in my fifth year as a pro, I know I have to adjust right away to what coach LA (Tenorio) wants.’

Zav Lucero and Jerom Lastimosa also shone for Magnolia with 17 and 14 points, respectively.

Only one of four ‘resource persons’ appeared on Monday before the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), which is trying to determine if they played any role in the violence that broke out after the anticorruption rallies on September 21.

‘They were subpoenaed this morning. Of the four, only one came,’ CIDG public information chief Maj. Helen dela Cruz said in a press briefing at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame.

‘They are invited to appear to shed light on the facts and circumstances surrounding the violent incidents that occurred,’ she added.

The subpoenaed individual who appeared before the CIDG identified himself as Park Alamada Pangawilan, also known as Kuya Park on social media.

In a phone interview with reporters, Pangawilan denied involvement in any of the riots, saying that violence had already erupted at both Ayala Bridge and the Mendiola Peace Arch when he and his group got there after attending a program held at Liwasang Bonifacio.

He also maintained that the lighters they were carrying were for a candle-lighting vigil originally scheduled at Mendiola.

‘There was no intention to burn anything. There was no intention to cause chaos. I was even scolding the young people who were causing trouble. I told them the police and the military were not our enemies,’ Pangawilan stressed.

Main players

Dela Cruz, meanwhile, declined to name the other individuals who were subpoenaed, saying only that they were male ‘leaders with large followings’ as she referred to them as ‘resource persons.’

How did the CIDG determine whom to subpoena? ‘We captured some of the main players. We were able to associate them with their leaders. In the course of the investigation, we were able to determine who their leaders were,’ she said.

According to dela Cruz, Republic Act No. 10973 gave the CIDG the power to issue subpoenas in relation to its investigations.

Should the three other subpoenaed individuals fail to appear before the police, she said that RA 10973 also gives the CIDG the right to file a case against them in a regional trial court for indirect contempt.

The three may also face a fine of P30,000 and six months in prison if they do not comply with the CIDG subpoena, PNP public information chief Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño said in the same briefing.

More expected

‘In the coming days ., they will invite over 20 individuals,’ Tuaño added, citing information from CIDG director Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico II.

Riots erupted on Ayala Bridge and the Mendiola Peace Arch – which leads to Malacañang Palace – after the ‘Baha Sa Luneta’ anticorruption protest in Rizal Park on Sept. 21.

Some of the protesters, who wore black shirts and black masks to cover their faces, set fire to a trailer, threw rocks and Molotov bombs at antiriot police and destroyed public and private property.

Police later arrested over 200 individuals – including more than 80 minors – amid the chaos, prompting human rights groups to condemn law enforcement for not exercising maximum tolerance.

The Baha Sa Luneta rally in Manila and the Trillion Peso March on Edsa were all part of a series of protests condemning corruption in the government amid investigations into alleged anomalies in flood control projects.

The University of the Philippines Los Baños celebrates its 107th Loyalty Day and Alumni Homecoming this week, which kicked off with the annual alumni parade last Sunday, bringing back hundreds of the university’s alumni to their old haunts on the UPLB campus. Among the things that would have easily caught the visitor’s eyes are several shells of buildings and major constructions that have remained unfinished for years. These include a planned new university library and knowledge center that was started five years ago and remains a raw concrete shell to this date; the economic development studies building of the College of Economics and Management (CEM), which broke ground in January 2023 and also remains a bare concrete shell; the graduate school dormitory, which appears nearly finished but has remained idle and unused, years after construction began; the long-standing excavation of the university track and field grounds, which has been fenced off from public view for years; and still more around campus.

What these unfinished buildings and constructions have in common, we’re told, is that they are all being implemented by the now-infamous Department of Public Works and Highways. Meanwhile, UPLB recently had a groundbreaking and soft launch of a student coop dormitory, and Chancellor Jose V. Camacho Jr. is quick to add that this project is not being done by the DPWH, as if to reassure us that the project will be done on time and done right. It makes one’s blood boil to see great losses from construction stoppages of UPLB buildings (and many similar DPWH projects nationwide), yet for many years, so many ghost and substandard flood control projects have been quickly certified for full payment.

Why has this experience with unfinished buildings been all too common, including and especially in UP, a government institution by virtue of its being the premier state university? There are several reasons. At the outset, fragmented project ownership and accountability, where the end-user (UPLB) and the implementing agency (DPWH) are two different entities, lead to coordination breakdowns, especially when there are design changes, site issues, or procurement delays. UPLB cannot directly fix implementation issues or rebid the project because the budget and contract are with DPWH, which seems to feel no urgency to push for prompt project completion, especially when it’s outside its own premises or political priorities.

Commission on Audit (COA) reports give us other reasons. All too common and persistent are problems with the contractor abandoning a project when costs escalate, or at worst, when there is bad faith to begin with. Contractors commonly bid very low to win contracts, expecting to argue for increases once underway, and then walk away when the desired increases are not granted. Replacing defaulting contractors is a tedious process that can take DPWH years. By the time rebidding happens, prices would have risen and the appropriated budget is no longer sufficient, leading to indefinite suspension.

Procurement and auditing bottlenecks also arise from actions of COA itself, such as when minor contract variations or additional works require COA clearance and DBM fund releases, often taking months. The DPWH has also been reported to have frozen project disbursements when COA flagged procedural lapses, wary of possible disallowances. Some projects have remained unfinished for years simply because of pending COA observations or contractor appeals, for which no clear resolution mechanisms to untangle stalemates exist.

And then there are discontinuities that arise from leadership changes and the realignment of political support and funding priorities. This arises when projects are started as congressional insertions or local realignments, which succeeding legislators or administrators may decide to abandon. At UPLB, the CEM building was initiated by a legislator who is among its alumni, but whose influence diminished when the political leadership changed. Budgets for other UPLB buildings were apparently reallocated to ‘priority infrastructure’ elsewhere, which could well have included spurious flood control projects. There have also been cases where DPWH’s school or office building specifications fail to meet UP’s higher construction standards (like for laboratories), leading UP engineers to refuse acceptance of the finished work, citing structural or functional deficiencies.

Long before the flood control scandal broke out, the DPWH had already earned for itself a bad name and had shown why other government entities like UP and many others ought to have the leeway to implement their infrastructure projects themselves. Why keep insisting that we all rely on a department that has proven itself unreliable, and worse, untrustworthy, for so long?