Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Another wave of fuel price hikes will hit motorists this Tuesday, with diesel and kerosene increasing for the seventh straight week.

In an advisory, Seaoil said diesel and kerosene would be more costly by 80 centavos and 20 centavos per liter, respectively.

Gasoline will also inch up by 20 centavos a liter.

Industry sources said last week that the expected increases could be attributed to the market’s fears of supply shortfalls, especially amid Russia’s partial diesel export ban.

Another major factor affecting prices was the new US sanctions against Iran over allegedly failing to comply with its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal./tad

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada will file perjury charges against former Department of Public Works and Highways – Bulacan Assistant District Engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez after the latter linked the senator to the anomalous infrastructure projects.

Estrada’s office made the announcement in an advisory released Monday, saying that the senator would lodge the charges against Hernandez before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Oct. 7.

Last month, Hernandez linked Estrada to the questionable infrastructure projects.

Contrary to the statements of Senator Rodante Marcoleta during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on September 8, Hernandez said that Estrada is ‘not safe’ from allegations linked to the projects.

‘Senator [Rodante] Marcoleta said yesterday, ‘You are safe.’ This is not true. Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Sen. Joel Villanueva, [DPWH] Undersecretary Robert Bernardo, and DE [district engineer] Alcantara. Senator Jinggoy laid out P355 million in 2025 for some projects in Bulacan,’ Hernandez said in Filipino.

In response, Estrada said he would file charges against Hernandez as he denied the allegations and described them as ‘kathang-isip at gawa-gawa’ (imaginary and made-up).

Estrada likewise reiterated his call for a lie-detector test with Hernandez to determine who among the two of them is telling the truth.

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

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has formed a task force composed of Area Police Commands (APCs) to dismantle private armed groups (PAGs).

‘They will coordinate the efforts of the regional offices, provincial offices, and tactical units,’ Acting PNP Chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said during a press briefing at Camp Crame on Monday.

He did not specify the number of existing PAGs in the Philippines, but said the PNP is monitoring both active and potential armed groups nationwide.

Nartatez added that PNP Deputy Chief for Operations Lt. Gen. Edgar Allan Okubo will lead the task force, overseeing sub-group commanders from the five APCs: Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Western Mindanao, and Eastern Mindanao.

APCs are offices that coordinate operations across regions within their areas of responsibility.

They were deactivated following a National Police Commission resolution last January and an order by Nartatez last Wednesday, which cited that the units were merely duplicating the functions of other PNP offices.

The PNP previously stated that the deactivation of the APCs would occur over a transition period while affected personnel are reassigned to other posts./mcm

State-run National Power Corp. (Napocor), under fresh leadership, is ‘overhauling’ its strategy to cut dependence on costlier diesel fuel.

Jericho Jonas Nograles, the newly installed president and chief executive officer of Napocor, said he was working closely with the Department of Energy in exploring new technologies.

‘We’re trying to increase our renewable energy assets to decrease diesel dependence. And we are now currently overhauling the approach because the rollout is a bit slow,’ he told reporters last week.

‘Let’s hope that you will see the results within six months,’ Nograles said.

The Napocor CEO said he has initiated talks with the Western Mindanao Command to reach the farthest-flung islands.

Nograles said Napocor plans to deploy ‘hundreds of solar home systems’ to remote areas.

‘So, we’re looking at islands. We’re looking at geographically isolated areas. And for those that are within the Napocor territories, within our 168 islands, we will fix their cost of electricity,’ he said.

Hybridization program

The Napocor chief also said he would push for the state firm’s hybridization program. That is, the private sector will be tapped to build renewable energy facilities to either augment or replace existing diesel-fired power plants.

‘But I can see that it has big obstacles. We’re fixing and studying what are the ways to remove those obstacles,’ he said. Nograles, however, declined to specify the issues.

Napocor’s Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) currently operates 281 power plants across 35 provinces.

SPUG provides electricity to areas not linked to the main transmission grid. They operate mostly diesel-fired generators.

Nograles also said the bulk of Napocor’s generation facilities are diesel power plants, which are ‘the most expensive that we have.’

He said that the average cost of electricity from diesel generators is about P30 per kilowatt hour (kWh). Of that cost, about P23 is subsidized by the government. -LISBET K. ESMAEL INQ

Five major transport groups split from the ‘Magnificent 7’ transportation coalition after its leaders called for the resignation of Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chief Teofilo Gaudiz III.

At a conference on Friday, groups Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations (ACTO), Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP), Stop and Go Transport Coalition (Stop and Go), Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators sa Pilipinas (LTOP), and UV Express Federation of the Philippines announced their withdrawal from the coalition.

Left in the coalition are Pasang Masda led by Ka Obet Martin, and Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (ALTODAP) led by Boy Vargas.

The five groups, through its spokesperson Orlando Marquez, alleged that they were made to sign petitions by Martin and Vargas under false pretenses, particularly in calling to remove Gaudiz from the LTFRB.

Marquez said that the five groups will ‘no longer participate in smear campaigns against government officials who are working sincerely.’

He also added that the five groups did not agree with the coalition’s calls to remove Gaudiz, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary Ramon Reyes, and LTFRB NCR Regional Director Zona Russet M. Tamayo.

‘The call to dismiss Undersecretary Ramon Reyes, Charmain Guadiz, RD Tamayo of NCR, we are not part of that. We did not discuss it with the group,’ Marquez said.

Marquez, however, also revealed that the five organizations will be joining five other Luzon-based groups to form a new 10-member coalition that he said will be ‘even bigger than the Magnificent 7.’

Bang Si-hyuk, chairperson of K-pop powerhouse HYBE, has been barred from leaving South Korea as police investigate allegations of stock fraud tied to the company’s 2020 listing.

According to local reports on Wednesday, the travel ban was imposed on Aug. 11, when Bang returned to Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s financial crime investigation unit confirmed it has placed a travel restriction on Bang, who is under investigation for alleged violations of the Capital Markets Act.

Bang is accused of misleading investors in 2019 by denying plans for an initial public offering, allegedly prompting them to sell shares to a private equity fund established by HYBE executives. The fund later offloaded its stake after the IPO, with Bang reportedly reaping about 190 billion won ($135 million) through a prior arrangement.

Bang has denied the allegations, saying HYBE complied with all laws and regulations related to its market debut.

Police opened the investigation late last year. Investigators have raided the Korea Exchange headquarters and HYBE’s office in Seoul to seize documents and questioned Bang twice last month.

Piggatan Bridge in the municipality of Alcala in Cagayan collapsed Monday afternoon, becoming the second bridge to collapse in the Cagayan Valley region this year.

In a Facebook post, the Cagayan Provincial Information Office said the bridge collapsed while several ten-wheeler trucks were passing.

‘The investigation is still ongoing and it is still being determined if anyone was injured in the incident,’ the information service said in a post in Filipino.

No further details are available as of posting time.

The 74.70-meter steel bridge was in good overall condition as of October 2024, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways website.

Last February, the newly retrofitted Cabagan-Santa Maria Bridge in Isabela province collapsed, leading to the fall of four cars into the Cagayan River.

The latest bridge collapse came amid a major corruption scandal involving anomalous infrastructure projects that has prompted ongoing Senate probe and the formation of an independent commission to investigate the suspected collusion between lawmakers, government officials, and contractors.

Jisoo of Blackpink on Monday unveiled a mysterious teaser hinting at the release of a surprise single. The image, posted on her social media, features a silhouette of her collaborator, suggesting a duet.

According to an industry source, the partner is Zayn Malik, a former member of One Direction.

In the teaser, Jisoo stands in the foreground while a male figure with his back turned looms behind her – his identity hidden, yet bearing a striking resemblance to the British singer-songwriter.

‘Jisoo is releasing a new ballad duet with Zayn, sometime this month,’ an industry source told The Korea Herald on Sunday. The source did not provide further details about the collaboration, but hinted that the UK pop icon may have been invited to Blackpink’s recent concert in New York for a reason.

Zayn, in July, was spotted attending Blackpink’s New York concert on July 27 with his daughter, Khai. Shortly after the concert, he shared a photo on Instagram showing himself in the crowd holding Khai, both raising their hands in the air, with the caption: ‘@BLACKPINKOFFICIAL THANK YOU 🙂 ME and KHAI LOVED IT.’

Jisoo is currently midway through Blackpink’s world tour ‘Deadline,’ which began in Seoul in July. She is taking a short break following the London shows on Aug. 15-16 and is scheduled to resume the tour in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Oct. 18.

The upcoming single will be Jisoo’s first music release since her solo EP ‘Amortage,’ released in February, which included the tracks ‘Earthquake,’ ‘Your Love,’ ‘Tears,’ and ‘Hugs and Kisses.’

Zayn, who rose to global fame as part of One Direction – one of the world’s best-selling boy bands – left the group in March 2015 and has since maintained a solo career.

As part of the government’s bid for a transparent budget, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said there will be neither urgent certifications nor unprogrammed funding in the 2026 national budget bill.

Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Sotto said he – along with Senate panel on finance head Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian – would push for the removal of unprogrammed funds in the national budget for next year.

‘Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and I will ensure that when we discuss the budget on its final reading, there will be no unprogrammed funds. We will put this on programmed allocations,’ said Sotto.

‘So that it’s clear and transparent. We can avoid the act of budget realignment once the budget is already passed,’ he added.

Apart from this, Sotto noted that, upon the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the national budget bill would no longer be certified as urgent.

The certification of urgency gives lawmakers the authority to do the second and third reading of a bill on the same day, disregarding the three-day rule outlined in the Constitution.

‘The president himself said that. He said he no longer likes a shortcut on the three-day rule. So it’s like that. I’m sure it will also be applied in the Senate,’ said Sotto.

However, now that the budget will not be certified as urgent, will this delay the passage of funding for next year?

The Senate chief is convinced it would not.

‘It will do good for us. It happens all the time. Congress rushes us, even then, until now. They will rush it once it’s on second reading, and then they will ask the president for an urgent certification. But the question is, have they read it?’ Sotto asked.

‘So it will be good for us, and that is right. It will not be approved on the same day. You have three days to go over and review what you approved on the second reading before you vote in a nominal vote on the third reading,’ he added.

Alex Eala reached a new career high in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.

The Filipino tennis ace climbed to World No. 54, up four spots from her previous rank despite coming off an early exit at the Wuhan Open.

Eala bowed out in the first round of the Wuhan Open qualifiers, falling to Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, on Saturday.

‘Some crazy matches this week back to the drawing board with a bit more experience and a lot of sweat lost????,’ Eala wrote on Instagram on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Eala was coming off a hectic September that began with a maiden WTA title win at the Guadalajara 125 Open.

Eala, however, hasn’t been able to get over the hump since then.

The Rafa Nadal Academy graduate suffered a quarterfinal exit at the Sao Paolo Open before getting the boot in the Jingshan Open semifinal. She also lost in the quarterfinal at the Suzhou Open on Friday.