Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

It was in 2021 when I first learned how to write.

My mama prepared a table in our small garden, one with Christmas lights and a tiny bahay kubo decoration. I would sit there with my old, heavy laptop-all its keys creating sounds similar to that of a typewriter whenever I am immersed in my campus journalistic work. It was still at the height of the pandemic, when classes were largely remote and press endeavors had to be done online. I would sleep at six in the evening, wake up at four just before sunrise, make myself a mug of instant coffee, and listen to Chopin or Mozart or maybe Beethoven-it was my ritual for writing. I was familiar with the scent of midnight and the sight of daylight’s first fall on the ground.

Four years have passed since then. I am in college today at Los Baños, and I rarely come home to Rizal. The very few times I visit, this house always changes. The table I used to have in our small garden is no longer here. My office is now on a newly constructed balcony, where I can easily see the vast azure. The old chessboard set my dad gave me on my 14th birthday, with all the letters and paintings from old lovers inside it, is no longer under my bed in my room. The mountain in Montalban looks a little bit taller, complementing the sunrise even better. My table is no longer the table that seemed like it could break at the slightest motion, and my laptop does not sound like an ancient typewriter anymore.

Like countless iskolar ng bayan who travelled from their distant provinces to Laguna for college, I entered the university with courage. There was this feeling of certainty that I could just lose and find myself-be homesick, be hurt, drink in Puesto at night, jog at Pili Drive in the morning, join mobilizations in front of Oblation or at Carabao Park. I felt this sensation, this pride that made me think I could mold my world into what I want it to be at the University of the Philippines. ‘Go on a journey,’ I would imagine Mozart telling me from the skies, for a writer whose inspirations still partly root from classical music.

What I failed to realize is that parts of me had already been lost long before university. The were years I lost in the haze when everything broke, dreams and friendships and love.

Long years inside the pandemic changed me. I learned to pretend I was more mature. My hair grew so much longer, and I became more conscious about my appearance. I fell in love, got broken, then fell in love again in April. I wrote poems and unfinished anthologies, then got broken again. I met the music of The Ridleys, I listened to ‘Aphrodite’ and ‘Germany and Rome.’ I believed in love.

I miss writing poetry. I miss drafting editorials on issues that made me look smart when published in our student paper. I miss exchanging emails that make my heart flutter. I miss walking around campus, waiting for a jeep near Katipunan, navigating the roads of Anonas and Molave-things in my past life that I, in retrospect, took for granted and eventually lost. Maybe this is just a testament of what someone once told me, ‘Tomorrow is not certain, and it’s a dreadful thought to wake up without today’s warmth.’ I miss the café I used to stay at, which had already closed three years ago.

There is this uncomfortable feeling of grief for the things and people that I loved. I would often ask myself, what about the essays and poems and prose I wrote for those who would no longer care to read them? What of the words left unsaid and the screams still echoing? I could have written more. Reminiscing now, I see how I was so young three years ago before the pandemic, and I was so disillusioned when suddenly times changed, and I was older-I had to act older. This feeling has recurred lately. I would initially tell myself, ‘This discomfort is temporary.’ Things have no permanence, and I cannot cling to stillness.

But maybe, parts of me still willingly let themselves get stuck in these recollections, despite the initial preconception, because they are reminders of a life I once lived.

I remember once reading an article that said, ‘Home need not be a place.’ Indeed, home, now, feels more metaphorical than physical. That little boy-who is familiar with the scent of midnight and the sight of daylight’s first break, who loves to write on the table his mama prepared for him-does not know this.

Perhaps this is why, since childhood, I have always been fond of constructing sentences that imply my hopes for events that are no longer likely to happen, that are just absurd and outright impossible.I want to visit and relive the past again.I want to guide that little boy today, to show him the reality of constant shifts and changes, of heartbreaks and years of broken things.

Philippine National Police chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. vowed to unmask the personalities behind the massive cache of ‘shabu’ (crystal meth) discovered in a private property in this town on Friday night.

Nartatez said the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) were already ‘on track’ in identifying and pursuing the suspects who would be charged and subject to arrest warrants.

‘For sure, we have enough pieces of evidence, and we will pursue them-especially since they left traces, whether electronic or through witnesses who can identify where they came from,’ he said in a press briefing here Saturday.

PDEA Director General Isagani Nerez, who was in the same press briefing, said authorities would not rest ‘until we are able to account for all the persons responsible for these major drug operations.’

The two-day antidrug operations in Pangasinan led to the confiscation of 1,020 kilograms of shabu, estimated to be worth P6.8 billion, which were packed in tea cartons with Chinese markings and even had QR codes.

The discovery of the large amount of shabu was triggered by the arrest on Thursday of two drug dealers in Bugallon town-a 40-year-old Chinese national known by the alias ‘Monkey’ and his driver, alias ‘Gardo,’ 54, a resident of Mampang, Zamboanga City-who yielded 125 kilos of meth.

On Friday night, authorities raided a private property in this coastal town where they found 895 kilos of shabu already loaded in two vehicles, apparently bound for Metro Manila.

Nerez said the total volume of seized shabu-1,020 kilos-would still be verified to determine the precise weight, as the initial figure included several layers of plastic packaging.

New shipment

He said investigators were confident the shabu recovered in Bugallon came from the same warehouse in Labrador, noting the identical Chinese character markings on the packs.

He also clarified that the latest seizure was not connected to the 1.4 tons of shabu confiscated in Zambales last June, which was suspected to be intended for delivery to Pangasinan.

‘This is a new shipment,’ Nerez said.

The private property in Labrador that served as a warehouse was reportedly purchased only two months ago. Mayor Noel Uson said he had no information yet about the previous or current owners.

Nerez said the property would be forfeited in favor of the government ‘to serve as a lesson to those who harbor drug syndicates.’

The raid was carried out under a search warrant issued by Judge Vincent Lamug of the Regional Trial Court Branch 70 in Burgos town.

Nerez credited Police Regional Office Ilocos Region director Brig. Gen. Dindo Reyes and Pangasinan Provincial Police director Col. Arbel Mercullo with securing the warrant.

He noted that Pangasinan has become a ‘favorite dumping ground’ for illegal drugs because of its proximity to international smuggling routes along the high seas.

Dumping ground

Zambales and a province in Mindanao are also considered key entry points, he said.

Last June, floating packs of shabu were recovered off the coastal towns of Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos Norte.

Nerez noted that the total volume of shabu seized during the Marcos administration has already surpassed that of all previous administrations combined. Nerez reiterated that the confiscated drugs would be destroyed immediately and expressed gratitude to the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine Coast Guard for their close coordination in the government’s antidrug campaign. /cb

Executives at the Mindanao Development Forum (MDF) warned that the current ‘impasse’ in the normalization process could hinder Mindanao’s development, urging the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and government peace panels to hold talks to resolve the issue.

This was expressed by Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Secretary Leo Tereso Magno and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua in a press briefing during the two-day MDF on Wednesday.

European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro, who outlined the EU’s assistance to Mindanao-including full support for normalization and the transition of former MILF combatants away from arms-said the process must continue until the desired results are achieved.

‘While the peace process is not under my office’s purview, normalization is a concern for MinDA because it affects the development we aim to achieve in Mindanao,’ Magno said.

‘I hope all concerned agencies, as proposed by the national government, will sit down again. There’s no alternative to a peaceful dialogue to address the issues in normalization,’ he added.

Macacua acknowledged that while challenges remain, these must be resolved as the peace implementation nears completion.

‘Although we have to admit there’s a problem, it must be addressed because we are now at the finish line of implementation,’ he said. ‘It’s only right that we talk. If we managed to do it before, why can’t we do it now?’

Jokingly, Macacua said that as the chief of staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, he still has to undergo decommissioning and is waiting for his turn.

He said both peace-implementing panels of the government and the MILF could discuss the issue in a ‘very cordial manner,’ expressing hope that, with the help of the Inter-Government Relations Body and the president, the matter will be addressed.

The normalization process reached an impasse when the MILF central committee suspended the decommissioning of its remaining 14,000 combatants, citing delays in the delivery of the promised socio-economic packages.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity refuted this claim.

Magno said the issue has two sides, and both must come to the table to talk things through

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno and Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II should be invited by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to discuss the alleged smuggling of cars owned by the Discaya couple.

This was the call of Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon on Monday, amid recent discovery that eight of the vehicles owned by contractor-couple Pacifico ‘Curlee’ and Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Discaya were possibly smuggled.

The Discaya couple are among the key figures in the flood control projects controversy, as different companies linked to the two were found to be among the top contractors for flood control projects.

The ICI, Ridon said, should ascertain whether BOC and LTO should be held liable for allowing these vehicles to enter the country.

‘ICI should invite BOC and LTO heads to shed light on the Discaya vehicles,’ Ridon, chairperson of the House of Representatives’ infra-committee that tackled the contractors’ involvement in anomalous flood control projects.

‘Both BOC and LTO’s liability should be determined by the ICI as to how these vehicles were able to be imported, registered and used in the country,’ he added.

Last September 10, Nepomuceno stated that eight out of the 30 luxury cars under the agency’s custody were found to be missing import entry documents and payment certificates.

When asked if the cars may be considered smuggled for having no record of entry, Nepomuceno replied : ‘That is the assumption. There are no documents; that’s why that’s our assumption.’

On October 1, Nepomuceno said that the BOC may auction 13 luxury cars owned by the Discaya couple if they fail to prove the legitimacy of the purchases.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner retired Sunday from the Shanghai Masters after suffering a leg injury in his third-round match against the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor.

The world number two began to experience issues in the fourth game of the third set, and tried to persevere before abandoning the match when trailing 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 3-2.

After an evenly matched first set, the four-time Grand Slam winner showed his teeth in the tiebreak, hitting two aces to take an early lead.

In the second set the tension picked up, with the Dutchman surviving three break points in the second game.

But it was Griekspoor who broke in the 11th game with a backhand, pushing the match into post-midnight territory.

Sinner ended the fourth game of the third set crouched over in pain, limping around the court.

His condition did not improve in the fifth and he hit the ball into the net multiple times, providing an easy break for his opponent, before having to be helped to his chair at the end of the game and then calling it quits.

Philippines – When notorious Australian pedophile Peter Scully and his coaccused Carmie Ann Alvarez pleaded not guilty to harboring two minors, chaining and detaining them for sexual exploitation, their victims could not understand why.

‘The two minors were crying, asking: ‘Why did they say not guilty? It’s the two of them who did it,” recalled Cagayan de Oro City prosecutor Charisse Galarrita-Bitoon, who handled that case.

She remembered telling them: ‘Langa, as I have explained before, they will always say not guilty.’

‘But they cannot understand that. The children were hurt,’ Galarrita-Bitoon told journalists on Sept. 12 during a seminar on human trafficking organized by the US Embassy.

The case dates back to 2014, when Alvarez befriended the girls at a mall, bought them hot dogs, and persuaded them to go with her, promising to provide for their needs, before taking them to Scully’s house.

There, the girls were fed, bathed, and given biscuits and alcoholic drinks that left them drunk. They were then sexually abused, with one of them even ordered to dig a hole in the ground while both were still naked with chains around their necks.

Days later, when Scully and Alvarez left the house, the girls managed to escape by climbing over the fence.

More than a decade has passed since that harrowing experience. The two survivors are now in college, pursuing nursing and psychology, slowly rebuilding their lives. In 2024, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Scully and Alvarez.

Scully’s case, Galarrita-Bitoon said, became the driving force behind the establishment of a justice zone in Cagayan de Oro City last year.

It also highlighted the grueling process of prosecuting trafficking cases involving children, where state lawyers deal with defense dilatory tactics and the retraumatization of child witnesses during trial, among other challenges.

Part of the struggle, she added, is securing cooperation from internet companies and financial institutions in providing information related to sex trafficking crimes-echoing similar concerns raised by Department of Justice (DOJ) officials and groups like the International Justice Mission (IJM).

The Philippines is one of the world’s largest known sources of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), where traffickers livestream the sexual abuse of minors in exchange for payments wired from abroad, often from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other European countries.

IJM’s Rebelander Basilan explained how OSAEC works: there are two perpetrators-locals who have access to children and offenders from abroad who would pay to ‘direct the kind of sexual abuse to be inflicted on the child.’

The abuse is livestreamed with payments sent via money transfer services.

‘We have a very well established money transfer system and that’s also being taken advantage of by these offenders to exchange money for the abuse of a child, a Filipino child,’ Basilan said. He also noted that online payments have minimal safeguards.

IJM’s 2022 study estimated that nearly half a million Filipino children were trafficked to produce new sexual exploitation material.

Basilan said it is ‘relatively very easy’ to livestream abuse, requiring only internet access and a device like a smartphone.

For 10 straight years, the Philippines has maintained its Tier 1 status in the US Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report, meaning the government meets the minimum standards to combat trafficking.

The latest report, released last week, noted that Philippine law enforcement had made numerous subpoenas and financial transaction requests under the amended antitrafficking law of 2022, which also imposed additional obligations on internet companies to provide information to authorities.

But DOJ spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano IV said the law is not being fully enforced. ‘The problem is, these are international companies, and there’s a lot of internal bureaucracy and red tape that allow them to continue their practices even with government pushback,’ he said. Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty said President Marcos has expressed openness to banning platforms that enable such crimes.

But Ty cautioned that his would need careful study. For now, he said, the government is focusing on requesting takedowns of explicit materials, increasing capacity awareness, and forging more partnerships in the international community.

The Cebu Provincial Government has maintained a red alert status as disaster response and relief operations intensify across northern Cebu following the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Bogo City on the night of Sept. 30, leaving 71 people dead, three missing, and nearly 600 injured.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Sunday morning continued to record quakes of magnitudes 4.1 and 4.5 in Bogo City, as well as reported Intensity II in Daanbantayan, Cebu, and Instrumental Intensity in the towns of Villaba, Leyte, Abuyog, and Carigara in Leyte province.

The Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) also said the quake, which struck at 9:59 p.m. with a shallow depth of 5 kilometers, continued to generate aftershocks up to Sunday, further alarming residents still reeling from the devastation.

Under a red alert, all disaster response units, including the Philippine Air Force, Philippine Coast Guard, police, and provincial rescue teams, are fully activated, ensuring 24-hour coordination of relief and recovery efforts.

According to the latest situation report, the quake has affected 209,972 families-equivalent to 372,513 individuals-across northern Cebu.

About 26,140 families have been displaced, seeking refuge in evacuation centers and makeshift shelters.

Besides Bogo City, the epicenter of the quake, other heavily affected areas include the municipalities of Medellin, San Remigio, Daanbantayan, Sogod, and Borbon, where thousands of houses were damaged or flattened.

Bogo City Hall, the Daanbantayan Municipal Building, and several schools and churches sustained severe structural damage.

Ground movement

Authorities also confirmed the appearance of sinkholes and fissures in Medellin, Borbon, and San Remigio, prompting geologists to monitor ground movement in affected zones.

Relief operations remained in full swing, with the Incident Command Post in Bogo City serving as the central coordination hub.

Food, potable water, shelter materials, and medical supplies remain the top priorities, along with the need for water tankers, generators, and heavy equipment to clear debris and restore access roads, according to the provincial government in social media posts on Sunday.

Power supply has been restored to 99 percent of the affected areas, while telecommunication lines are mostly operational, except in isolated areas.

But ports in Hagnaya, Pulangbato, and Bantayan are still closed due to pending safety inspections. Classes in at least 10 northern municipalities remain suspended until further notice.

Gov. Pamela Baricuatro has appealed to volunteers and private donors to avoid traveling directly to quake-hit towns, citing heavy congestion disrupting emergency response convoys.

On Sunday, various reports from news media and netizens showed long lines of vehicles heading to northern Cebu stuck in traffic.

Travel time between Cebu City and Bogo City, which are about 98 km apart, usually takes three hours. But on Sunday, motorists reported being held on the road for over six hours and still unable to reach Bogo or other further destinations.

To streamline relief logistics, the Capitol has opened a donation hub at the Danao City Boardwalk, in partnership with the Danao City government, where goods are sorted and dispatched by provincial teams to affected municipalities.

Danao City, also in the north, is the gateway to the northern tip of Cebu, where the affected localities are located.

The Emergency Operations Center at the Cebu Capitol in Cebu City continues to operate on a 24-hour basis, consolidating field reports and coordinating with local government units, national agencies, and private organizations.

Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for the victims of the deadly magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit Cebu.

‘I express my closeness to the people of the Philippines, and in particular, I pray for all those who are severely affected by the consequences of this earthquake,’ he said in Italian during his Sunday Angelus at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

‘Let us remain united and in solidarity in our trusted God and in the intercession of our Blessed Mother,’ he added.

The pope’s deep ties to the Philippines date back to his visits several times before he was elected supreme leader of the Catholic Church.

As Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013, he blessed churches, spoke to friars, and participated in jubilee celebrations in the country.

In 2008, he visited Cebu to lead the blessing of the Santo Niño Spirituality Center in Consolacion, marking the silver jubilee of the Augustinian Province of Santo Niño de Cebu, Philippines.

According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the earthquake struck at 9:59 p.m. on Sept. 30, with its epicenter located 21 kilometers northeast of Bogo City in Cebu.

The agency has recorded a total of 7,092 aftershocks so far, with magnitudes ranging from 1.0 to 5.1.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Monday reported that the death toll from the earthquake has reached 72, while 559 individuals were injured. The agency said these figures are still subject to validation.

The NDRRMC also said that 155,094 families-or 547,394 individuals-were affected by the earthquake.

The quake severely damaged thousands of houses, including heritage churches such as the Parroquia de San Pedro Apostol and the centuries-old Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima in Daanbantayan town./mcm

Resigning does not absolve one from culpability, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said during the first part of the fifth episode of his online program titled BBM Podcast.

When asked if resigning helps one get away from being held accountable, he said: ‘That’s not enough. There is a great deal of damage that has been caused, not only financial damage or economic damage, but actual damage to people’s lives.’

‘I mean, very simple – a lousy flood control project that collapsed during the flood, that killed a family. I mean, how can you live with that? I can’t live with it. So, I won’t live with it. So, I.we’ll keep pushing,’ he added.

While no specific names were mentioned, two of Marcos’ known political allies have recently resigned from their posts amid the corruption scandal – his cousin Martin Romualdez, who resigned as House speaker; and former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy ‘Zaldy Co,’ who vacated his spot in Congress.

Both were accused of allegedly obtaining large commissions in exchange for infrastructure deals.

Meanwhile, when asked what would happen in the government’s fight against corruption if it led to his allies, Marcos maintained that it will continue as he stressed that he did not expose the issue on ghost flood control projects during his recent State of the nation address for mere political posturing.

‘I think we’re already there. Why would I even start such a thing if it was somehow for political advantage?’ said Marcos.

‘The reason I brought it up and made it part of the national discourse was quite simply because this could not go on. Because if it kept going – suddenly you discovered how deeply entrenched this entire system was,’ he pointed out.

Marcos said that there has always been ‘a sniff and suspicion’ of corruption in the government, but not of the same scale as the trillions poured and lost in anomalous flood control projects.

He took credit in exposing it, stating that allowing it to continue would mean no progress would ever happen to the country, including its economy, education and healthcare.

‘That’s why I brought it up and I will continue to bring it up because I do not see any point to anything that we are doing unless we move the country forward,’ said the president.

Marcos also emphasized that he has no intention of being among the presidents who ‘resigned’ themselves to inaction simply because their term lasts only six years.

‘This is what we’ve seen over so many past decades. I didn’t want to be another one. I didn’t want to be a part of that kind of attitude, especially in terms of public service,’ he explained.

After June Mar Fajardo wrapped up a six-minute scrum with journalists, the 6-foot-10 San Miguel Beer center was approached by a familiar figure who played a key part in enriching the Beermen’s PBA history.

The man was the legendary Ramon Fernandez, the multifaceted center whose deep bag of skills, hard-to-break statistical achievements and championships collected make him a favorite candidate for the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) debate.

‘Let’s leave [the GOAT debate] for the basketball fans to argue [about] and what have you. They know their basketball,’ Fernandez said of those arguments often foisted on social media and other corners of the Internet.

Fajardo is more than crowding him for that title now. For context, Fernandez has been called many monikers during his career: El Presidente. The Franchise. Don Ramon.

He used to be known, along with fellow legend Alvin Patrimonio, as the player with four MVP trophies and at one point during the PBA history, that record was deemed untouchable. On Sunday, Fajardo was officially crowned his ninth.

And it seems the MVP No. 10, a number that will likely be unreachable for maybe the league’s next 50 years, remains a strong possibility with Fajardo expected to be at the forefront of San Miguel’s quest to repeat as champion of the Philippine Cup.

‘As long as he stays healthy, he can still do it. I won my fourth [in 1988] when I was 35,’ Fernandez said of the 35-year-old Fajardo. ‘He just needs to control his weight because as you get older your knees will give out.’

That doesn’t seem far-fetched. Fajardo is a double-double waiting to happen every game. Not that he’s counting.

‘If it comes, it comes,’ Fajardo said. ‘But if I think about winning 10 MVPs, I will no longer think of my teammates or our team goals.’

But if he does succeed with helping San Miguel reach its team goals, championships, that 10th MVP would be practically sewn up.

Fajardo was the hands down choice as the best player of Season 49, beating NLEX’s Robert Bolick and Arvin Tolentino, who played last season with NorthPort before taking his act to South Korea.

The standout from Cebu garnered 3,041 points based on statistics and votes from the media and players. Bolick was second with 1,914 points followed by Tolentino with 1,901.

He also took home two other trophies for membership to the Mythical First Team and the All-Defensive Team.

Bolick, Tolentino, TNT’s Calvin Oftana and Fajardo’s teammate CJ Perez were also part of the Mythical First Team while 2021-22 MVP Scottie Thompson, fellow Barangay Ginebra star Japeth Aguilar, TNT’s RR Pogoy, Converge’s Justin Arana and Magnolia’s Zavier Lucero were in the Mythical Second Team.

Lucero joined Fajardo, Ginebra’s Stephen Holt, NorthPort’s Joshua Munzon and TNT’s Glenn Khobuntin in the All-Defensive Team while Munzon also had two trophies after winning Most Improved Player honors.

The Rookie of the Year went to Barangay Ginebra’s RJ Abarrientos while the Samboy Lim Sportsmanship Award was handed to Rain or Shine’s Gian Mamuyac.

The Leo Awards served as the official end to the 49th season and the transition to the landmark 50th that started at nearby Smart Araneta Coliseum, the opening ceremonies graced by former players who were instrumental in the five decades of the league considered as Asia’s first pay-for-play circuit.

Artists from the past, from Randy Santiago to Jett Pangan to Mike Hanopol, entertained the audience during the traditional ‘palabas’ in a prelude to the Barangay Ginebra-Magnolia tussle that was ongoing at press time.